Lonely Innocence
by AlexMontgomery
Summary: Inxat was given only a name, a number, and a simple purpose. Doing work, and meeting her friends, it seems like a pretty simple life. But secrets and lies have a habit of tearing friendships apart. The past, hers or not, has a way of rearing it's ugly head. A tool dosn't have a life of their own. And innocence lives a very short life. Rated - T
1. Chapter One

_There are still a lot of things I couldn't answer if you asked me to answer. It shows how little I really know. All I really know is what other's had told me. Other's know more about me than I do._

_I was born in a town where the sun is always setting. I wasn't really born, I was just there. My only companions for the first seven days was an old book I found, and a stray dog I called Haru. _

_I was genuinely surprised to learn that I could read. You see, at the time, I didn't know anything about myself. I didn't know where I was, who I was, who I belonged to, or what I should be doing. But someone with a head as empty as a flowerpot could read. It's not like I understood everything I read about though. _

_Everyone starts somewhere. For me, that was when I was seven days old. A week after I was born._

**Chapter One  
****A Purpose, a New You**

_**Day Seven**_

_I hear the question 'is it nature or nature that shape us?' I think it's a bit of both. As someone how just appeared one day in the body of a teenager, but the mind of a child what kind of nature could I have had? What nature could a Nobody have?_

_When I was seven days old, I was wandering the streets of Twilight Town. Haru was off scrounging for food, I learned fairly quickly not to stay in one place for very long. So with a book in hand I walked from area to area. No one bothered me. No one asked for my name. No one knew me._

_I was nobody._

The red haired man tore a bit of his light blue frozen treat off its bar. He ignored the group of school kids that ran past him, and right to the ice cream stand. He had been a dog for Organization XIII for nearly a decade now, give or take, and he was still 'surprised' with how little gratitude they showed him. _He_ was the one who managed to convince the new guy to join after all.

The fact that the new guy was chosen by the Keyblade should have been a bonus. But, nope. It was no different than it was before. Was a day off once in a while really too much to ask for?

Axel's thoughts where abruptly interrupted when he bumped into someone. A dull thud was heard as something slipped from the person's hands. He muttered his insincere, but mandatory, apology, and a 'wasn't-watching-where-I-was-going' for good measure. Though, from the looks of it, the person wasn't caring anymore than he was.

The person was a girl in her early to mid teen. She had short brown hair that touched her shoulders. At the moment it was difficult to make out what color her eyes were. She kept her head down, and her bangs were covering them. She was dressed in a red, sleeveless, hooded, shirt, and a dark red, short sleeved undershirt. She had on a pair of tan jeans with a pair of black over shorts. Her shorts were lined white, on each side was a square opening, revealing the sides of her jeans underneath. On each arm was a black, fingerless, white-lined, glove that covered most of her forearm.

Quickly, the girl picked up the thing she dropped. Hugging it close to her, she took off as though nothing happened.

Axel initially had half a mind to say something along the lines of 'kids today,' but he noticed something oddly familiar about the girl. Her behavior was a long like Roxas'. Vacant, uninterested, not understanding, zombie-like. Was the girl perhaps one of them?

It was a high possibility. After Roxas became Number XIII the Superior made the announcement to keep a look-out for another Nobody. A girl with the Keyblade. Apparently there was another who was chosen by Keyblade, a girl who came from the same islands as Sora. According to the Organization's little rumor mill, she, too, had become a Heartless at one point. Odd's were, there was a Nobody. This girl could have been her.

Well, he had nothing else to do at the moment.

Tossing his, now clean, popsicle stick into a nearby waste bin, he followed behind the brunette. As soon as she headed into the woods, Axel had a pretty good idea where she was going. In the woods was an old mansion, but it was long abandoned. He was pretty sure most kids would use it as stupid dare or test of courage. The girl didn't really look like the type to do that, she must have had her own reasons.

When he caught up to the girl, she sat herself down, her back to the wall working as fence for the mansion. She had a book in her hands that defiantly looked it had seen better days. The redhead wanted to bang his head against something heard. She was just some egghead that wanted a quite place to read? Great. Just brilliant. If he had the emotional capability Axel would probably be feeling like an idiot at this point.

His green eyes traveled back up to the girl. A group of Shadow Heartless appeared. The brunette remained oblivious to what was going on. She remained seated on the ground, reading. Axel ground his teeth together, might as well do his good deed for the day.

His twin chakrams appeared in his hands, weighing them down. He drew his right arm back, ready to throw it when one of the Heartless hobbled up to the girl. It knocked the old book out of her hands. This still didn't get a reaction from her.

The girl looked up at the Heartless, finally allowing the redhead to get a good look at her eyes. They were forest green, currently vacant, and glassy. But, her face seem really familiar somehow. Just her face, not her full appearance.

The brunette stood up and held her hand out in front of her. Something peculiar appeared in her hand. A Keyblade.

It had a dark indigo shaft that ended in a cross. Three magenta diamonds were on three of the crosses arms with a white whoop circling it. The guard was dark indigo, with two magenta diamonds on either side of the white grip.

Huh. Well, okay, maybe Axel really was onto something with this girl. This really wasn't a bad week for him, then. Assuming this girl was the one boss-man wanted them to look for. At this point, though, he didn't doubt it.

The girl slashed, and stabbed the Heartless, one after the other. She looked like she had been doing this her whole life. As soon as the last of the Heartless were gone, she willed he weapon and way, then sat herself back on the ground. She picked up her book, found her place, and began to read again.

With her nose buried deep in her book, Axel decided to approach her. "Hey," he said. He was crouched down to her level. The girl looked up, uninterested. "What's your name?"

She shrugged and turned her attention back to her book. "Hey, can you do me a favor?" he asked, causing her to look back up at him. "Would you mind staying here for a while?"

The girl blinked one, then looked back down at the book. Well, this wasn't going to be hard.

She didn't look up as Axel disappeared into darkness. Her book was confusing her at the moment. Mostly because she couldn't figure out what was going on at the moment between the man and woman. Why would they be doing all this in bed?

When she looked up again, a man, dressed in a black coat, identical to the guy with red hair wore, walked up to her. His hood was up, hiding most of his face in the shadows. Despite this, she could see his golden eyes staring down at her with a keen interest. "I've been told," the man said. "You posses a Key…"

The girl stood up, and stared down at her right hand. In a flash, her Keyblade, Sign of Innocence, appeared. This appeared to please the man. "Do you remember," he said, slowly approaching her. The girl stared up at him, blankly. "Your true name?"

"My… true name…" the girl said in a mousy, hoarse voice. "Is…"

The man lowered himself slightly. "I've been to see her," he said with a low tone. "She looks a lot like you. I can give you what you seek. I can give you answers. I can give you purpose."

Absently, the girl nodded. The hooded man waved his hand in front of her. Four letters appeared. T-I-A-N. The man waved his hand again, the letters spun around the girl's head. After a few moments, the man threw his hand straight at her, a large X appeared in the jumble of letters.

She blinked. "Inx… at…" she read out loud.

"Yes," the man said, looking down at her. "The new you."

_And just like that, I had a name for myself._

_After receiving my new name, the man in the hood, Xemnas took me to the castle. I was told there were others like me there. Each one of them was missing something vital. Something that made us incomplete. But, all of this went over my head._

_I was given a black coat, and was told to wear it at all times. It was the difference between life and death in the darkness. Naturally, I didn't understand what any of this meant._

_They called themselves Organization XIII. Everyone was given a name, number, and a purpose. What that was, I didn't know._

_But this stuff didn't matter to me. I didn't have any thoughts for myself. My head was the equivalent of a flower pot. I was just a puppet with someone else pulling the strings for me._

Inxat fiddled with the zipper of her new coat. She stood beside another person in the black coat. The difference between the two was that this person wore their hood up. They were about Inxat's high, but really that's all she could tell.

As it would turn out, Inxat wasn't the only one new to the Organization. This person was too. Better than being on her own. At least, that's what she thought.

The person, at her side turned their head slightly, to look at Inxat. The brunette could have sworn they smiled at her.

Inside the Round Room, all thirteen members of the Organization sat on their respective thrones. The Superior; Xemnas, followed by Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Saix, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene, and their newest member, Roxas. Each one carried the numbers I through XIII, in that exact order.

"Good tidings, friends," Xemnas accented, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce, that two new comrades have been chosen to wear the coat."

Everyone peered down, particularly Numbers IX through XII, and somewhat XIII, waited anxiously for the new members to show themselves. Granted, they were a bit confused. They already had thirteen members, why would the Superior allow two more? This _had _to be big.

With a delayed reaction, Inxat followed the hooded girl to the center of the room. At least twelve pairs of eyes looked down at her. She wasn't sure how to react to this. Inxat looked up at the new faces. The only one she recognized was the guy with spiky red hair.

That is, until her eyes met with the eyes belonging to a blonde boy. His eyes were blue, and his hair was styled in a side-sweep. Something odd was going through Inxat's head. She wanted to say something to this boy. She wanted to know if they had ever met before. It was like she somehow knew this boy.

"Number XIV," Xemnas continued, extending his hand to the girl beside Inxat. He proceeded to gesture to Inxat. "And, another of the Keyblade's chosen, Number XV, Inxat."

* * *

Inxat followed behind the guy with long blue hair, Number VII; Saix. Not much was said between them. If Saix turned left, Inxat did, too. She would later learn that Saix acted as the Superior's Number Two, if only because Number II was a bit of a loose canon.

"This will be your room," Saix said, stopping in front of the door. "Tomorrow morning, meet me in the Grey Area. You'll begin your training then."

Inxat nodded. She was quickly left alone in her room. There wasn't much to it. Steely-grey walls, a bed, a window, a dresser, a closet and a journal with a pen. She examined the room thoroughly. The dresser contained spare black undershirts and slacks. The closet had seven spare coats. Standard stuff.

The frame holding her mattress up had a couple of drawing, they didn't carry anything though. Inxat decided to keep her diary in it. It was nicely made. Black binding with a silver 'XV' on the cover. She didn't know what to write in it through.

Inxat removed her book from her coat pocket. It was old, worn, and beaten. It's cover, which was probably paperback, was torn off, and it's spine was tearing away. Inxat had no idea what it was called, or who wrote it. She unzipped her coat, and allowed it to fall to the floor. Sitting on her bed, Inxat read until she fell asleep.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Don't know when the second chapter will be up. But I though I'd at least get this done. And if anyone's going to ask Inxat's name is pronounced 'Inks-at.'


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two  
****The Icing On the Cake**

_The eighth day was when I started training for missions. Of course, none of this meant anything to me. They were just words. I went because I didn't know any better. I didn't have much thoughts for myself. _

_What else could I do?_

**_Day Eight_**

As Saix instructed her, Inxat walked into the Grey Area to see the blonde boy, Roxas, standing beside Saix, apparently waiting for her. Quietly, she approached the two.

The Grey Area looked more like a lounge than a briefing room. There were four couches, and two tables. At the end of the room was large glass window. "Roxas, Inxat, your work begins today," Saix explained, glancing down at his clipboard. "I will issues missions, which the Organization expects you to carry out. Think of these early mission's like exercises. You will have much to learn before we put you two to the real test."

The two remained silent throughout this. Was _any_ of this supposed to mean anything to Inxat? Saix glanced to the side where the familiar man with red hair leaned against the glass window. "Axel will be joining you your first time," Number II explained. "Isn't that right, Axel?"

Axel leaned against the window, his arms crossed over his chest. "Oh, boy," he sighed while standing up straight. "What, you making me the kid's mentor, now?"

"Surely you don't mind showing them the ropes," Saix countered.

"You sure you want to send the new girl out right off the bat, though?" Axel asked, walking up to them. "The kid just came in yesterday."

"Superior's orders," Saix replied simply. "They say girl's mature faster than boys, and Number XV is already reading, correct? She'll catch on pretty quick."

He walked off, most likely to give the next member their mission for the day. "Well, you heard the man," said Axel. "Starting today, I'm your babysitter."

The two rookies remained silent, as per usual. "Sheesh," Axel said. "Quit acting like a couple of zombies, and let's get this show on the road."

His attention turned to the brunette girl or a moment. "It's Inxat, right?" Axel asked her.

The girl didn't say anything, but nodded in response. No different from Roxas in the long run.

Axel never liked showing the new guys around in the past. Playing teacher wasn't his style. But, showing these kids around didn't bug him nearly as much as it would have. It was strange, Roxas looked identical to a boy Axel met a long time ago, back when he wasn't much older than these to, when he had a heart. He would have easily mistaken Roxas for that boy, but he should have been around Axel's age by now.

Inxat, it wasn't like with Roxas where she was the person's carbon copy. But her face looked pretty similar to a girl he met around the same time as that boy. There were obvious differences in appearance between the two. The blaringly obvious one being that the girl in his past wasn't a brunette.

Well, racking his brain around this wasn't going to get him anywhere. "Teach them well, Axel," Saix advised, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure they make the grade. C'mon you two."

Roxas hardly responded. His eye's wandered to the hooded figure of Number XIV. "Hey, what's wrong?" Axel asked, noticing this. "You worried about the new kid? What was the name again…?"

"Number XIV, Xion," Saix explained.

"Right. I knew that."

"Xion," Roxas repeated absently.

"God it memorized, Roxas?" asked Axel.

"Yeah…"

"You sure? How 'bout my name, then?"

"It's Axel."

"All right. Inxat," Axel went on. The brunette looked up at her senior. "What's our bosses name?"

Inxat blinked a couple of times, then answered quietly, "Xemnas…"

"Very good," Axel said, somewhat pleased. "No way you're gonna forget his name, right? Now, let's get moving."

He extened his hand forward, opening a corridor of darkness. Walking into it, he gestured for the two to follow suite. The corridor lead the three of them into the tunnels of Twilight Town. "All right," Axel began. "Let's start by talking about what we do on missions. Missions are… uhh… They're, you know… Hrm…"

If this was what all missions were like this, Inxat would have rather be reading. Axel scratched the back of his head. How was he supposed to go about this? "You know what," he said, finally coming to a conclusion. "Talking is dub. Let's just go ahead and get our hands dirty, shall we?"

"We're wearing gloves…" Inxat muttered.

"Figure of speech, Inx. Don't take it too literally."

Axel took off ahead of them, then leaped up a couple of ledges that would lead them deeper into the tunnels. Inxat fell behind as Roxas made his way over. She watched Roxas pull himself onto the smaller ledge, then leap onto the tall ledge Axel stood on. She couldn't help but wonder, what would it have been like to make it in jump? "Inxat!" Axel urged, impatiently. "C'mon, we gotta bit of ground to cover."

Inxat broke out into a run straight for the taller ledge. She braced her left foot against the wall, and pushed up. Bracing the other foot against the wall, Inxat climbed up, then pulled herself onto the ledge. It wasn't the jump she wanted, but she got up the ledge. "Not bad," Axel commented. "Don't you think, Roxas?"

"Yeah," nodded Roxas.

Inxat nodded in response. "But don't go thinking you can just run and jump your way through every mission," Axel advised. "You've gotta _be aware_."

He really stressed his last point, though Roxas didn't seem to understand why. "What…" he said, struggling to find the right words. "What do you mean?"

"You halfta look around. Sometimes what you're going after is right under your nose. Got it memorized?"

"Y-Yeah, I think so."

"All right, then, time for a road test. There's a treasure chest somewhere in these passages. I wand one of you to find it."

"That all?" Inxat asked. This mission really wasn't what she was expecting.

"I know, don't hurt yourselves," Axel joked. "Anyway, remember to look around."

The next several minutes consisted of either Roxas, or Inxat leading them around the passages. Eventually they came across a blue and cold chest in a dead-end. "Is this the chest?" asked Roxas.

"Sure is," said Axel. "Well done.

Silence. Number VIII looked form Roxas to Inxat. Both were uninterested, unimpressed, and just standing there. "Um, what are you waiting for?"

"The mission was to find the chest," Roxas pointed out. "Aren't we done?"

"Uh, Roxas," Axel began, bringing a hand to the side of his head. "There's this thing about chests. They have stuff in them."

"So we open the chest?"

"Yes, that is generally what we do."

Roxas glanced at Inxat, as if asking her if she wanted to open it. Inxat didn't say anything, but turned her head in the opposite direction. "You're gonn halfta speak up there, Inxat," said Axel. "My ESP's been off lately."

He chuckled at his own joke, despite the odd looks Roxas and Inxat gave him. "Never mind," he sighed.

Roxas knelt down and opened the chest to find a potion bottle inside. "Good work," Axel complimented. "You can keep what you found. All right, time to RTC."

"RTC?" Inxat repeated.

"Return to The Castle," her senior explained. "Go ahead, lead the way back to the dark corridor that brought us here."

Roxas nodded slightly. He lead the group back through the passageways, back to where they started not too long ago. The corridor sprung to live as Axel clapped his hands. "Bravo," he grinned. "So, whaddya think? Got the hang of this mission business?"

Inxat nodded. If all missions were like this, it would have been painfully easily. Roxas muttered something under his breath. Something neither Axel nor Inxat could make out. "I'm sorry, speak up," said Axel. "_Couldn't_ quite catch that."

"I said," Roxas repeated, a bit louder this time around. "I could have done that blindfolded."

Axel laughed at this. Inxat could feel a slight tug at the corners of her mouth. It was a little weird, but somehow natural. "I don't know if I want a blindfolded zombie on the loose," Axel commented with a chuckle. "All right, smart aleck, you and Inxat did good. And no successful mission is without a little icing on the cake."

"But… don't we have to RTC?" Roxas asked.

"Later. Why don't we show Inxat our hangout?"

Roxas nodded in response. Inxat tilted her head to the side in confusion as Axel lead Roxas out of the tunnel. She didn't want to go back alone, so, she followed the two into town.

A little while later, Inxat found herself seated on the clock tower above the Twilight Town train station beside Axel and Roxas. "Here ya go," said Axel. He handed them each a blue ice cream bar. "The icing on the cake. You remember what this ice cream's called, Roxas?"

The blonde haired boy thought for a moment. "Umm…"

"It's sea-salt ice cream. C'mon, I already told you once. Get it memorized, man."

Inxat stared dumbly at the frozen blue treat in her hand. Even with her gloves on, and even if the ice cream was on a stick, she could sill feel a slight chill on her hands. Slowly, Inxat nibbled at a corner. It was cold, even irritated her teeth slightly. But her eyes widened as soon as the ice cream touched her tongue. What a unique taste. "Well?" Axel asked.

"It's salty…" said Inxat. "But also sweet."

"Roxas said the same thing the other day," an amused Axel pointed out.

"I did?" Roxas asked, confused. "I don't remember that…"

"Hey, what's it been, a week since you showed up?"

"Maybe."

"'Maybe?' C'mon, you must remember that much."

Roxas remained silent. He really didn't remember much of the first week. "Okay then," Axel went on. "What about Inxat? How long have you been wandering the streets until we found you?"

"Em…" Inxat thought. She took another bite out of her ice cream. "Seven days… I think…"

"You don't say," Axel said thoughtfully. He paused for a moment to take a bite from his own bar. "You remember what you were doing the whole time?"

"Reading… I had company."

Axel assumed by 'company' she meant that poorly kept book. Somehow, it really didn't surprise him to hear she spent her time reading. "It doesn't matter," he said. "Today's where it really begins anyway."

"Yeah?" Roxas asked.

"Sure! Here you are, out in the field, working for the Organization. Today, the both of you are one of us."

"I guess it's a start."

'_One of us.' Was that supposed to mean anything. It really didn't at the time. Still doesn't. What did I have going for me. Just a name, a number, and a purpose I didn't even know about. I didn't know why I was there. Why the Organization though I was important. Or what was the big deal about my Keyblade. Let alone what it was._

_Really, all I knew was that Roxas was vaguely familiar. Why? I couldn't tell you. It was just something that nagged at the back of my head since we met. As much as I wanted to ask him, what was I supposed to say. "Hi! Have we met before?"_

_Well, okay, yeah, I could have said that. But I didn't know it at the time. Not when it seemed like everyone did the thinking for me._

Elsewhere in Twilight Town, a girl of about thirteen sat on the sidewalk. Her knees pull up to her chest as she shook. She was fairly thin, with bags under her brown eyes. Her hair was golden blonde. Right now, it was rather long, and terribly tangled. She wore a very plain, rather dirtied, white dress that reached her knees. Around her neck was a gold chain carrying a seashell pendant.

She didn't know where she was, but knew she wasn't where she was supposed to be. She didn't even look like how she was supposed to. She just wound up in this strange town. The last thing she could clearly remember was her chest really hurting her. It was awful. Like someone drove their hand into her chest, grabbed her heart, and squeezed it. Then she woke up in this town.

In an attempt to calm her nerves, she began to sing to herself. No words, just notes. But after a while, a real song came to her. It made her feel a little better. Just a tiny bit. It didn't help her current predicament, but it helped calm her down.

"Hey," she heard.

Looking up, she found another girl, around her own age. She had brown hair, and green eyes. She was dressed in an orange shirt with a white flower pattern on it, and Capri pants. "Are you okay?" the girl asked, kindly. "You look awful."

"I-I…" the girl forced out. Her throat was so dry. But she really didn't know where she could get water. "I don't know… I'm not where I'm supposed to be."

"You mean you're lost?" the brunette girl asked. "Where're your parents?"

"I don't… I don't remember…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl said quickly. She smiled at her, an offered a hand to the blonde. "Here."

The blonde girl simply stared at the outstretched hand. What was she supposed to do? "Let's go to my house," the orange-clad girl said, grabbing the other girls hand. "We might be able to figure this out with my parents help. We'll get you cleaned up, and find your family. My name's Olette, by the way. What's yours?"

The girl bit her lower lip. That was a really good question. What was her name? But, thankfully for Olette, she caught on when the girl didn't reply. "You know what," she said, taking the girl by the hand. "Don't worry about it. It'll come to you soon enough."

Hand-in-hand, Olette led her down the town's streets. Without really thinking, the girl latched her free hand onto her seashell pendant, and looked down. It was in the shape of a clamshell, which could have told her that she lived by water. Or it could have been a souvenir from a vacation. The girl continued to study the pendent from every angle. She noticed that it looked like a locket. The hinges were well-hidden, she didn't catch it at first.

The girl opened the pedant, and soft music filled the air. The tune was the very same song the girl was singing to herself just before Olette found her. Where had she heard this song before?

She could almost hear a couple of older girls singing the song as she closed the locket. It was a voice that gave her comfort, but envy. They must have been someone she admired. "Oh!" the girl gasped, pulling to an abrupt stop. "Helia."

"Huh?" Olette questioned.

"My name… Helia."

"That's great!" Olette said happily. She clapped her hands slightly in sheer joy. "Did you remember anything else?"

Thinking for a moment, Helia shook her head no. She didn't remember anything else. "Oh," Olette sighed. "Well, you remembered your name, so it's a start, right?"

"I suppose…"

It was a start, but it wasn't enough.

* * *

After the clock tower, Axel lead the way back to the castle. He was a bit annoyed to learn that no one showed them any other rooms than their own. He gave them a quick tour, showing them the library (something Inxat wanted to see later), the laundry room, showers, training room, and ended it the kitchen. "You have two choices if you want to eat," Axel explained, leaning against the wall outside the kitchen. "Take whatever Vexen's making for the day. Or take whatever the Moogle's selling."

Inxat almost asked what he meant by the Moogle, until she remembered seeing a little creature in a tiny version of the coat in the Grey Area. "And believe me, you're better off with the former,"

"I'd think twice about that, today," Xigbar said. "Vexen's been busy with the Superior all day, so Saix assigned kitchen duties to Demyx."

Inxat noticed a peculiar sent in the air. It wasn't even a good peculiar, but a this-is-going-to-suck-peculiar. Demyx, a young man with a sandy blonde mullet poked his head out of the kitchen door. "Okay, so it' doesn't really look like it does in the book," he said franticly. "But I'm pretty sure it's still salvageable."

"Which is code for; you burnt it to a crisp," said Xigbar.

"Aw, come on, Xiggy!"

The brunette arched her brow. What could have held up their usual cook for so long?

* * *

The figure in the tube remained still as Number IV, Vexen, looked over their readings. To the untrained eye, they seemed almost satisfactory. But, there was one blaring flaw that worried him. The ideal plan was for Xeonno's readings to be the same as No. _i_ but Xeonno's were not matching No. _i_'s. Something wasn't right, he should have been build by the same thing as No. _i_, so what was wrong?

Behind him, the door slid open. "Any progress?" Xemnas asked.

"I'm afraid not. Xeonno's readings should be identical to No. _i_'s," Vexen explained. "However I cannot determine if there was a flaw while creating him, or if there was something wrong with the sample your provided."

Xemnas pondered this for a moment. His intention was to take a sample of memory when he paid Sora and Tian a visit in Hollow Bastion. But, could the separation between Tian and Yue have caused a stir in Tian's heart? A stir that cause Xemnas to take something he hadn't meant to? "What are the odds of Xeonno using the Keyblade?" he asked.

"Undetermined," Vexen admitted. "With reading's like this, it'd be a wonder if he could."

"Chalk it up to a failure then," concluded Xemnas. "Dovxi has hardly shown any sign's of power like we had hoped. Both Xeonno and Dovxi will have to be arrange for immediate termination for them both. We cannot bother with a couple of failures."

In the shadowed doorway, a pair of pale blue eyes widened as soon as they heard 'immediate termination.'

* * *

**Authors Note:** Maybe it's just me, but I fail to believe that Axel wouldn't have put two-and-two together, and realize Roxas looked like Ven. And maybe he's able to see that there's a relation between Aether and Tian/Inxat.

Also, the names of the two at the end are pronounced "Zon-no" and "Doff-shi" We'll be learning more about them later.


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
****The Common Goal**

_**Day Nine**_

That morning, Inxat walked into the Grey Area, only to find four others. Saix, the hooded Xion standing off to the side, Demyx, and one she hadn't met yet. Inxat could have sworn she heard something going out outside her room last night. But no one mentioned it, so it must have been a dream.

"So," the man she hadn't met stood up from his seat. He had platinum blonde hair, and a few piercings. "I got one of the new kids, eh? Didn't think that was in the cards, today."

"Just make sure she understands the mission and fills out her quota," Saix said with a sigh.

"Will do," he gave Saix a mock salute.

The blonde man opened a corridor, and gestured Inxat to follow. They found themselves in the Southern side of Twilight Town. "It's Inxat, right?" he asked, looking down at her.

Inxat nodded.

"I'm Number X; Luxord," he introduced. "Today the game is to collect hearts."

Inxat arched her brow. Collect hearts. What an odd concept. "How?" she asked.

"With your Keyblade, of course."

"You mean this?"

Inxat held out her hand. In a dark red flash, the dark indigo and magenta Keyblade appeared in her hand. Sign of Innocence. It was an appropriate name for someone like her. Someone who hardly had a thought for herself, someone as ignorant as she was. Someone who just did not understand a whole lot about life.

The brown haired girl looked down at her Keyblade. This was the first time she really had a good look at it. She wasn't completely sure how she could summon it, she just could. Inxat wasn't even sure what she was thinking when she first used it back at the old mansion. It happened so fast. What was the Keyblade exactly? And why could _she_ use it?

"A mysterious thing you've got there," Luxord said, admiring Inxat's weapon. "Or so I've been told, at least. Now, back to the game at hand. The objective is to collect hearts, and to do that, you need to take down the Heartless."

"Heart… less?" Inxat asked, confused.

As though on cue, a small group of black, imp-like, creatures appeared in front of them. They had small bodies with round heads, and round yellow eyes. "There we go," Luxord said happily. "Now, shall we see how well you fair in this game?"

Inxat though back to the day she reviewed her new name. When she summoned her Keyblade for the very first time. When she took out the nearby Heartless. What would it be like to do that again? And again. And again.

Wordlessly, Inxat charted at the nearest Heartless. It was surprisingly exhilarating, was the only time she actually knew just what she was doing. In the past, she just did as the other's told her but this… this was the only time when she had a say in what she was doing.

If she wanted to spin-slash, she did. Skewer right through it, she did. This was the only time she knew what she was doing.

When the last of the Heartless were gone, Inxat allowed her arms to hang limp at her sides. She panted. "Were those…?" she began.

"Yep," Luxord finished. "But I wouldn't worry with the Pureblood pawns."

"How come?"

"Well, you see-"

Number X was interrupted by another group of Heartless. This time, they were much different than the others. This group hovered off the ground. They were green with a red emblem on the front. Without thinking, Inxat darted towards the Heartless. She thrust her Keyblade into the nearest Green Requiem.

It was thrown against the nearest building and disappeared. Something floated out of its being, and into the sky. Inxat didn't really take note of this, she was far more interested in the rest of the Heartless.

When the last of the Green Requiem were gone, Luxord appeared to be impressed. "Those Heartless are the prized Emblem," he explained. "They're the one's you need to worry about."

"Why?" Inxat asked. She willed her Keyblade out of her hand. "What makes them different from the others?"

"Tell me," Luxord began. "Did you noticed the heart released as you defeated the Emblem?"

"Sort of…"

"As one of the Keyblades chosen, it is your job to collect hearts," he explained.

"But…" Inxat said thoughtfully. Now she was really confused. "What happens to the hearts afterwards?"

"They'll come together to create Kingdom Hearts."

Something in Inxat's mind clicked. Kingdom Hearts. It sounded so familiar, like it held some kind of importance to her. What that importance was, she couldn't answer. "And it's… important?" she asked.

"Of course," Luxord said with a slight shrug. "It's the Organization's prime directive."

"So that's all the Organization does?"

"Kind of. You and Number XIII are the only one's who can. While the rest of us can defeat Heartless, they'll just return back into Heartless over time. But, that's not the case if they're defeated by the Keyblade. That's why we were lucky enough to find two Keyblade wielders."

"Oh," said Inxat. She was still confused, none of this made any sense. It just flew right above her head at a speed she could never catch up with.

"All right," Luxord muttered. A deck of playing cards suddenly appeared in his hands. "We've got a certain number, a quota if you will, of hearts to collect. So let's start moving."

The two Nobodies wandered around town for a while. So, apparently, Inxat wasn't allowed to RTC until her quota was filled out. She would be informed of it before headed off for mission's, but not until she was allowed to handle it on her own.

They came across Green Requiem and a blue version called Blue Rhapsody. As Luxord said, he wasn't able to collect hearts, but he was able to pitch in by keeping the Heartless boxed in. Inxat threw her Keyblade into the Emblem. Both disappeared, their hearts released.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself," Luxord said, his cards disappearing. "Well, you've won this game with flying colors. Let's RTC."

"Kay…"

* * *

_With that mission under my belt, I had some sort of understanding of my purpose. Collecting 'hearts' for reasons I didn't understand. I didn't really know what a 'heart' was, or what was so special about it. But, as I would learn in the weeks to come, it was everything to the others members in the Organization._

* * *

Helia sat by the window in Olette's room. She knew fully well that the brunette and her parents were talking about what to do to her. As much as they tried to hide it for politeness sake, Helia put two-and-two together. They were nice people, who allowed her to stay the night, and most of the day. She couldn't really blame them if they wanted to send her elsewhere. They didn't owe her anything. But, maybe they could take her somewhere that could help her find out who she was.

Her pendant and the song had to mean something to her. Maybe they were the key to her memories? It couldn't have been that far off, she did remember her name upon finding out her pendant was a music box after all.

"Helia," Olette said, upon opening the door. She hurried up to Helia's side, then grabbed her by the arm. "Come on, I've got the tub running."

"Huh?" she questioned.

"My parents and I want you to stay with us," Olette said with a smile bright enough to rival the sun. She nearly dragged Helia out of the room, and to the bathroom across the hall. "Until you remember your family, or if they come looking for you, you can stay with us. My parents are cleaning out the guest room right now. We'll go shopping with mom tomorrow for clothes."

She lead Helia into the bathroom, then closed the door behind her. "Now," Olette continued, helping Helia out of the dress she wore. "Let's get you cleaned up. You look like you haven't washed your hair in ages. We should probably cut it, too."

Helia bit her lip slightly. Olette nearly shoved her into the tub. Someone, she knew she couldn't escape from this.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Sorry if this took too long. I've been a bit distracted lately. But it's all good.

I'm sorry for changing the title while I'm working on the story again. I swear that's the last time it'll happen.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four  
****Working Hard Hardly Works**

_**Day Ten**_

"After it, quick!" Marluxia ordered. He carried his pastel colored scythe, Graceful Dahlia, in his hands.

Inxat sprinted forward, slashing through the Heartless before it could escape. She leaped onto a wooden bench, and launched herself off the back. Inxat drove her Keyblade into the Heartless, releasing the heart. She fell forward, landing in a heap on the concrete ground. "The landing needs a bit of work," Marluxia said to himself as both allowed their weapons to disappear. "But I suppose it wasn't that bad, for a beginner. All right, mission complete. We'll RTC, now."

Inxat stood up, and brushed off the front of her coat. "Em…" she muttered.

"Hmm? Any questions, Inxat?"

"It's just…" her voice trailed off. "Luxord mentioned something called 'Kingdom Hearts.' That the hearts I collect will come to create it. What _is_ it? I don't get what's the point to it."

"It is the thing that will complete us," Marluxia explained. "You see, Inxat, people like you and me, Nobodies, we don't have hearts."

"Huh?"

"Each and every one of us lost our hearts at one point," Marluxia explained, opening a dark corridor. "Nobodies are basically the bodies left behind. But everyone in the Organization managed to retain themselves, so we strive to get our hearts back. But, with you and Roxas collecting heart's, we'll be able to gain what we lack through Kingdom Hearts."

* * *

_I couldn't shake the thought that Kingdom Hearts held some importance to me. But, I kept this to myself. Because what that importance was, I really had no idea._

_If nothing else, I had a better idea of what the Organization's goals were._

_What I didn't understand is what were hearts. What made us incomplete without them? What was so special about a heart? If the lack of hearts is what made us Nobodies, did getting hearts make us somebody?_

* * *

_**Day Eleven**_

Inxat walked out of the corridor, into Twilight Town behind Number IV, Vexen. "Today, I'll be teaching you the importance of reconnaissance," Vexen explained as soon as Inxat stepped out.

"Reconna… Recoissa…" Inxat tried to repeat. She ended up fumbling over the world, very badly. "What?"

"Reconnaissance," her senior repeated. He sounded a bit irritable to Inxat, but, what did she know. "Today we will be observing the area and taking everything into account."

"And… that's important?" asked Inxat.

"Of course! How well do you think our work would go without knowledge before hand? We would fall apart before we could even start."

Inxat thought about this for a moment. "So, we get to know the field before going into battle?" she asked.

"Exactly. The first step of the exercise is to study the immediate area, then find and report anything that seems out of place."

With a nod, Inxat lead the way across town. She paused in front of a medium-sized water puddle beside a flowerbed. "There's water here," Inxat said.

"Interesting," said Vexen. "_And_?"

"And…" the brunette forced out. What else was she supposed to say? "It probably just rained?"

"_Or_?"

"Or… what?"

"There is a number of possible explanations for this water here," Vexen said. By now, Inxat was sure he was irritated with her. "Examine our surroundings, and tell me why there would be water here?"

"Em…"

Inxat couldn't figure out what she was supposed to say. She already gave him an explanation. What more did he want? Finally, it seemed like Vexen lost all patients with her. "Yes," he said angrily. "It could have rained recently, but look at what's near by. A flowerbed. Someone could have watered their flowers earlier today. Was it really that difficult to figure out?"

"Sorry…" Inxat mumbled.

"I don't need empty apologies, I need progress."

Continuing down the street, the two eventually overheard a couple of men discussing a plague of bad pluming that seemed to have hit town. "That's interesting," Vexen said, mostly to himself. Inxat wondered if he remembered she was there.

"What is?" she asked.

"What those two just said. About the town's pluming."

"So… it's connected to the puddle by the flower bed?"

"Possibly. It's too early to say right now if the two factor's are connected, but there is something odd about plumbing problems happening at the same time across town. Now tell me, what would be the best thing to do now?"

Silence. "Number XV?" Vexen asked, looking down. Inxat was gone. "What now?!"

Inxat stood in front of a blonde woman, in a periwinkle shirt and pink skirt. "My pluming?" Jessie asked. "My house has been fine, but my neighbor said-"

"Sorry, to bother you," Vexen said, grabbing Inxat by the back of her coat. "I've told her time, and time again never to wander off."

Quickly, Number IV pulled Inxat away from the woman. Taking her to an alleyway, he pratically threw her back into the wall. "Stupid girl!" her hissed.

"What?" Inxat asked.

"One rule about the Organization; we _do not _make ourselves known! We stay out of the way, we stay hidden. Understand?"

"Yes…" Inxat murmured. She wasn't really liking this mission.

"Good," Vexen sighed. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, what do we do from here?"

"Em…" the brown haired girl thought for a moment. "Check out the town's water system… and… take note on the towns plumbing condition as a whole on the way, if possible."

"Better," her senior said with a slight nod of the head.

Going deeper and deeper into town, the two found that sever bathroom's had been flooded during the week. They finally found the town's water system where a Chimera Heartless spent the week, making havoc.

They took care of the Heartless, with little problem, and headed back to where they originally started. "All right, then," Vexen said, coming to a stop. "Have you learned anything?"

"Heartless like to tinker around with pipes," said Inxat.

"Anything _besides_ that?"

"It's really easy to get into the town's water system. That's how the Heartless go in, in the first place. The Heartless play around with stuff, just for the heck of it, which will cause people to complain about 'insurance.'"

"Good. Anything else?"

"Ehm…" Inxat's voice trailed off. Was there something else?"

"Never mind," Vexen said, bitterly. "Don't hurt yourself."

"Um…" Inxat murmured. "How is this important?"

"When the Organization sends one of us to a new world, of course," said Vexen. "Every world is different with it's own terrain, value, Heartless population, and such. The point of recon is to turn these variables into our advantage."

Inxat's eyebrows rose. 'New world?' Did that mean there was more worlds beyond the castle and Twilight Town? And she could go to them? When? How? What fore? More Heartless? Inxat wanted to know.

Later that night, Inxat walked down the castle halls. Her hair was slightly damp, making it look almost black. She had just showered a few moments ago. Inxat finished reading her book, again, and wanted to read more. She remembered someone telling her about the library, now if only she could remember where it was exactly.

She finally found the room. Inside were shelves lined with books, and a young man with steel-blue hair. His bangs covered his right eye. He appeared to be organization the collection when he noticed Inxat walk it. This was Number IV, Zexion. "Can I help you?" he asked, though he sounded indifferent.

"I just…" Inxat began. "I was just looking for a book."

"Well, you've obviously come to the right place," he said with a slight sigh. He placed a few books on the shelf behind him and turned his attention to the brunette. "I take it you've been doing some reading before hand?"

Inxat nodded. "Very well then," Number IV continued. He gestured to the shelf behind him. "The only think you need to worry about is the shelf behind me here. It carries dada by the Organization's founding members. It's for their eyes only. Understand?"

"Yes."

Right away, Inxat went up to the closest shelf and began scanning the titles. Zexion noticed she would pull out a book slightly when she found something that interested her. When she had seen enough, Inxat went through the tittles she pulled out, and settled on a book about wildlife. "Thank you," she said to Zexion before she rushed out.

* * *

_I learned pretty quickly that I liked to read, so for a while, I made stops at the castle library often. But, I quickly grew tired of books filled solely with facts. I wanted something like the book I found in Twilight Town. Where could I get them though? The castle didn't carry books like that._

* * *

_**Day Twelve**_

Inxat walked into the familiar part of Twilight Town. When she went to the Grey Area that morning Saix explained to her that she would be teamed up with Number XII, Larxene, that day. But, she had headed off without Inxat, meaning it was the first time Inxat got to use the corridor on her own.

She fond Larxene leaning against a building, looking unbelievably annoyed, and like she wanted to strangle something. "Man," she sighed, staring coldly at Inxat. "It's about time we got another girl in the Organization. But why'd she have to be so incompetent?"

"Sorry…" Inxat muttered.

"Whatever," Larxene spat. "I'm supposed to teach you about Limit Breaks, and whatdya know, there's a Heartless right over there."

She jerked her thumb in the direction of the Mega-Shadow Heartless that stood on the opposite side of the street. "Okay," Inxat nodded.

The brunette was about ready to summon her Keyblade when Larxene placed a h and on her shoulder. "Not so fast," she said. "You're not quite ready for your Limit Break just yet."

Before Inxat could ask her what she meant, Larxene suddenly popped her leg up, and kicked the younger girl square in the abdomen. Inxat felt herself be thrown back, into the air, and across the street. She landed in someone's vegetable stand outside of a store.

"There," Larxene said, almost happy about this. "Now you're ready. Chop-chop, hop to it! I haven't got all day!"

Struggling, Inxat got onto her feet. Her stomach was screaming for relief she summoned her Keyblade, and hobbled over to the Mega-Shadow. Her Keyblade suddenly felt different in her hand., as though power were pulsing through it. Both Inxat's power and speed suddenly increased, three-fold. The Heartless were gone within moment's leaving behind yellow and blue balls, which Inxat placed into her pockets."

"I _knew_ she could've done this on her own," Larxene muttered furiously as Inxat hobbled up. "They didn't need me to show her. Well, you can do whatever you want, but _I'm _heading back to the castle. I'm killing brain cells by the thousands playing teacher."

Larxene strolled into the corridor. Inxat looked back at the stand she crashed into. It was destroyed, but, soon enough, it wasn't the stand that caught Inxat's attention. It was the store it was in front of. She could see books on display in the window. Books! As much as Inxat wanted to take a look at the shop, she wasn't quite sure if she should have.

A man walked out of the shop with a couple of book under his arm. He waved good-bye to someone inside. Turning around, the man paled at the sight of the stand. "MY CABAGES!" he screamed.

Immediately, Inxat ran into the corridor before he could see her.

…

Warm water rained down on Inxat as she washed up. It felt nice against her skin. Lathering herself up, she winced when her fingers grazed her stomach. Inxat looked down to find a boot-shaped bruise, right where Larxene had kicked her. "Stronger than she looks…" Inxat muttered.

_**Day Thirteen**_

"You won't be needing your Keyblade today," Zexion instructed.

Inxat tilted her head to the side. "Why not?" she asked.

"Today's exercise is for you to get a feel for using magic. Normally magic should be used as an aid. If your on a solo mission and you need an extra hand. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think so," Inxat nodded. "I should use a bit of magic while on missions, but don't fully depend on it. Use it if I need a bit of help."

"Good."

The mission that day was straightforward and simple. Inxat almost found it to be dull. When the missions was done, and they were about to RTC, Zexion explained that she may be able to learn more spells as time went on.

In her room, Inxat unzipped her coat and tossed it to the floor beside her bed. She laid back, with her hands behind her head. Six day's and she still hasn't seen Haru. Hopefully she was doing okay without Inxat. Someone, she was pretty sure the Organization wouldn't allow pets in the castle.

* * *

**Authors Note: **I just realized how long the recon mission was… huh…


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five  
****Friends**

_**Day Fourteen**_

Inxat heaved a sigh as she walked into the Grey Area. She didn't know how much longer she'd have in Twilight Town before they sent her elsewhere, but she wanted to find Haru. "Hey, Inxat," she heard. The brunette snapped her head to the side to find Axel and Roxas, seemingly waiting for her. "Looks like you're stuck with us today."

"Okay," Inxat nodded. She found herself smiling for some reason.

"I don't know what they've cooked up for us," Axel continued with a slight smirk. "But let's get it done with style, huh?"

"Right," nodded Roxas.

"By the way, this is your first really-real mission."

Arching her brow, Inxat took a small paperback book out from her coat pocket. She flipped through the pages for a few minutes. "It's not in the dictionary," she said looking up. "So… would that fall under the 'slang' category?"

The three stepped into town, it's warm colors were a welcome to Inxat. "Our second mission together," said Axel, mostly to himself.

"Yep," said Roxas.

Axel looked down at the two. Still as quiet as ever. "Sheesh, don't talk my ear off," he said. "You ready or what?"

"Yep," Inxat nodded, summoning her Keyblade.

She noticed that Roxas had his own in his hands. It was different in comparison. His Keyblade looked more like a key than Inxat's. "We got a simple mission today," Axel explained, summoning his chakram's. "You know, fill out the day's quota. I'm sure you've done it before."

"Yeah," Roxas nodded.

"Em…" Inxat bit her lip slightly.

"You're still gonna have to speak up, Inxat," Axel said. "My ESP is still on the fritz."

"Is there any point for the three of us to stick together if we're just collecting hearts," Inxat began. "Well, Roxas and me anyway."

"Right, I see where you going with this."

"So we're splitting up?" asked Roxas.

"Yeah, we'll cover more ground that way," said Axel, scratching the back of his head. "Okay, here's the plan. Inxat, I want you to cover the sandlot, Roxas and I will take care of the clock tower. In, lets say… an hour we'll meet back here for RTC. Got it?"

"Yep," Inxat nodded.

Pleased, Inxat ran across Twilight Town, and straight for the sandlot. She felt slightly bubbly on the inside. Like she actually did something right and wasn't berated for screwing up for once. She almost liked it.

Outside the Sandlot, she spotted a familiar, little dog. "Haru!" she said happily, scooping her up. "How've you been?"

Haru yapped, and proceeded to lick her face. Inxat walked into the Sandlot to find a number of Heartless, scurrying around. Inxat placed the small dog on the ground, instructing her to stay. Summoning her Keyblade, Inxat launched forward, bashing away at the Heartless. When done, she returned to the dog, and knelt down in front of her. "Where were you Haru," Inxat said, stretching her by the ear. "I've been looking for you for days."

Haru yapped a few times, then took off running. "Haru, wait!" the girl shouted.

The dog lead Inxat just outside the sandlot, to a couple of trashcans. Haru yapped a couple of times, then began sniffing around the trash. "This is your home," Inxat asked, tilting her head to the side. "Do you eat much?"

Haru jumped up, and snatched a slice of bread out of the garbage. She landed back on the ground, devouring the bread. "Well," Inxat said, scratching the back of her head. "I'm pretty sure I can't take you to the castle with me… But I think I can make sure you eat, okay?"

Inxat happily left Haru with her findings as she continued with her mission. Hopefully, now, she will be able to find Haru again later.

She was the last to return at the rendezvous point. Axel and Roxas were already there. "Nice of you to decide to come over," Axel said. "Thought we were going to need a search party."

Inxat shrugged slightly. "So," Axel went on. "Got any plans?"

"I was just going to report to Saix and then go to my room like I always do," said Roxas.

"Go to your room," Axel repeated. He shook his head disapprovingly. "Oh, Roxas, Roxas. And I suppose Inxat's no better."

"What?" Inxat asked. "I'm going to do some reading after my report."

"Yep, just as I thought."

"What?!"

The sounds of heavy panting, and shoes-hitting-pavement, caught their attention. A teenaged boy with blond hair, and dressed in a bit of camouflage ran into their line of sight. "Move it, Pence!" he called.

Soon after, a brown haired girl dressed in orange, and a dark haired boy, a little on the husky side, dressed in red, ran up. "Hey, wait up!" Pence whined.

"Hayner, come on," the girl, Olette said, shaking her head. "We're supposed to be showing Helia around."

"Speaking of which," Pence said, looking around him. "Where is she?"

"I'm coming!" a girl called. She was a little younger than the trio around her. She was dressed in black and blue.

Helia placed her hands on her hips, as she panted. "You guy's are too fast," she whined.

"Can't help it," Hayner shrugged. "There's a lot of ground to cover. Now, let's go. Last one there has to buy the winner and Helia an ice cream."

"Oh, sure," Olette said, shaking her head disapprovingly, despite her laughter. "Now you tell us!"

"No fair, Hayner!" Pence whined.

"Better get flyin'," Hayner began. He grabbed Helia's hand, and took of running. "If you don't wanna end up buyin'!"

The four ran past the three Nobodies. Odds were, they didn't seem them there. "Who were they?" asked Roxas.

"Must be some kids who live here," replied Axel.

"Really? They sure acted weird."

"Huh," Inxat breathed out. "How do you figure?"

"You didn't notice?" Roxas asked, turning to face Inxat. "Those last few seemed to enjoy getting pushed around like that. They were even making those 'ha ha' noises."

"You mean laughter?" asked Axel. "Sometime's people with hearts do that even when it doesn't make sense."

"So, they're different from us, then," Inxat concluded.

"C'mon, let's get some ice cream," said Axel.

"Why?" Roxas asked.

"Whaddya mean, why?" Axel asked, scratching the back of his head. "Because we're friends."

"So… friends are people who have ice cream together?"

"Sort of… That, or laugh at stupid stuff that doesn't make any sense."

"You mean like those four we just saw?" Inxat asked.

"Right, they were friends. C'mon, I'll show you how it works."

Within minutes, Inxat found herself seated on the clock tower again, with a bar of sea-salt ice cream in her hand. She took a bite out of it, the sweet-salty taste melted in her mouth. "Hey, you two," Axel began. "Let's meet up for ice cream again after your next mission. I mean who want's to spend their days just bouncing between work and the castle, right?"

"Not me," Roxas laughed slightly. "Hey, I laughed… I guess we really are friends."

"What do you think, Inxat?" asked Axel.

"Em…" Inxat took another bite out of her ice cream, and thought. She liked the idea of having ice cream after her missions. "Sure. I'd like that.

* * *

_That's… how things really started. Meeting up on the clock tower, eating ice cream. I loved those days, just the three of us. Well… it was four of us a little later on, then those days got even better. But, no matter how much I want the four of us to go back to those times… I don't think we can go back that easily._

* * *

**Authors Note:** Hopefully, thing's will start to get interesting soon.


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six  
****Missions**

_**Day Fifteen**_

Inxat was thrown against the wall. Grinding her teeth tight together, she braced herself against the wall, and pointed her Keyblade at the Heartless. "Fire!" she shouted.

A ball of fire shot out of the tip of the Keyblade, and at the Heartless. It burst into flames before it disappeared. "Not bad," said Zexion, snapping the lexicon he held closed. "I see you have been getting used to using magic. At least you haven't been using it as a crutch."

"What do you mean by 'crutch?'" Inxat asked. To her a crutch was a walking aid for someone either injured or had problems walking.

"You haven't been using magic as your only way of dealing with the Heartless," Zexion explained. "You've been using it sparingly, instead of relying solely on magic."

"Okay," Inxat nodded. "I get it."

"Anyway," Zexion said, extending his arm out. "We've fulfilled the day's quota, and then some, so we'll RTC."

The corridor of darkness appeared in front of them. Inxat looked to the side as Zexion walked through. Was she still supposed to meet with Roxas and Axel for ice cream? She wanted to check up on Haru, too.

Inxat traveled the streets of Twilight Town, and eventually came across the shop Larxene kicked her into. The store seemed to remove it's outdoor display, probably assuming it was some vandals. Upon closer inspection, Inxat found that it was a book shop.

The brunette bit the inside of her cheek. Well, what's a few minutes going to hurt?

Opening the door, Inxat was greeted by the sound's of a tinkering bell. A teenage boy sat behind the desk. His hair was red-orange, his bangs grown over his right eye. His eyes were lime green, and he was dressed in red and black. "Hello," the boy said with a smile. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh…" Inxat muttered. "N-No, I was… just browsing…"

"All right, just call for Xeonno if you need help."

Inxat scanned through the titles, occasionally pulling out a title that caught her attention, ever so slightly. Another few minutes passed until Inxat finally decided on a book. She paid Xeonno and headed out. The brunette rushed across town with the book tucked into her pocket.

She made her way to the ice cream vender, to find Axel there. "Well, if it isn't Inxat," he said, as the girl in question walked up to him. "Hope they didn't work you too hard."

"No," Inxat shook her head. "I just had to fill out the day's quota."

"Just wait a little longer," said Axel. "Once their sure you and Roxas have the whole mission thing down, you two'll be able to see different worlds."

"And then the recon training will come into play?"

"Bingo."

"No, it's fine," Inxat could hear from behind her. "I'll get them."

Helia ran up, behind Inxat. The younger girl's bare hand, brushed lightly against Inxat's gloved one. A flash of pain shot through Inxat's hand. Images began to flash through her mind. She saw a silver haired boy shove a black haired girl to the ground as her body began to glow. Then a black haired girl dressed in red and white shouting at someone desperately. Then finally image was of the girl in red embracing a Heartless.

As Helia let out a startled scream, Inxat fell back onto the concrete ground. "Eh he…" Helia chuckled weakly. "Sorry about that. Static shock, I guess. You okay?"

"Uh…" Inxat panted. "Ye-Yeah."

"Well, you can't get anywhere, just sittin' around," Axel said. He grabbed Inxat by the arm, and pulled her back onto her feet. "If you're fine, let's get what we came for and met up with Roxas."

"Right," Inxat nodded.

Inxat wasn't sure what just happened. She wanted to ask Helia if she experienced the same thing too, but instead kept it to herself. It happened pretty fast, Inxat couldn't quite remember what happened now that it was over and done with. So it probably didn't matter, if she couldn't remember it.

_**Day Sixteen**_

"Inxat," Axel said. His voice was dry and he sounded slightly irritated. "What is that?"

Inxat was seated on the edge of the clock tower. She had her ice cream in her mouth, and another one held off to the side as Haru happily licked it. Roxas sat beside Haru, he seemed to like the small dog's presents there, as he constantly stroked her fur.

"She's a dog," Inxat said simply. "A domestic animal whose characteristic call is a bark."

"I _know_ what a dog is," said Axel. "I mean what is it doing here?"

"It's a 'she.' Haru kept me company before I joined the Organization."

"She's a stray, right," asked Roxas. "That's why you brought her here."

"Yep," Inxat nodded. "I figured I could at least make sure she's well fed until someone adopts her. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Hey, it's your munny," Axel muttered, taking a bit out of his ice cream.

"So why'd you call her Haru?" Roxas asked.

"Emm…" Inxat thought for a moment. "She's really good a jumping and… I dunno, Haru seemed to suite her."

Haru was the first one to finish her ice cream. After chewing on the stick a few times she began snuggling up against Roxas. She seemed to like him pretty well.

Before she could head back to the castle, Inxat took Haru back to her trashcan by the sandlot. Roxas decided to come along with her. It was silent between the two as they walked across town. Neither once of them talked very much.

"Hey, Inxat," Roxas said, breaking the silence between the two. "We've never met before, have we?"

"Hm," Inxat looked over at the blond boy. "What do you mean?"

"I… I dunno… It's just… Well…" Roxas struggled a bit. How did he want to express this? "Something… just tells me that I know you from somewhere, but I think we only met on our first mission together."

"Really," Inxat's brow arched slightly. "I had the same thought, too."

"You two?" the boy repeated, a little surprised. There was something going on inside him, but he wasn't sure how to describe it. "Do you think we really knew each other before the Organization?"

"I don't know," Inxat said with a shrug. "I don't remember anything beyond the Organization."

"Yeah, me too. Wouldn't it be something if that were true though?"

"Yeah."

_**Day Seventeen**_

"What are you waiting for," Marluxia demanded. "Get it! Now!"

Inxat jumped into the air, as she made her decent back to earth, she drove her Keyblade into the Heartless directly under her. "The Keyblade is a mysterious, yet powerful weapon," Marluxia said, walking up to the brunette as she stood back up.

"I keep hearing that," Inxat said, allowing the Keyblade to disappear. "What make's the Keyblade so unique?"

"That's enough for today," Marluxia said, summoning the corridor. "I think it's enough for us to RTC."

Inxat bit her lower lip as Marluxia disappeared into the corridor. With a sigh she headed off to the ice cream vender. "Hey, Inxat," Roxas said, rushing up to her.

"Hey," Inxat sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"I dunno… It seems like no one's telling me anything."

"Yeah, I know," Roxas sighed. "No one's telling me anything too."

'_So, it's not just me,' _Inxat thought to herself. _'I guess it's nice to know that.'_

_**Day Twenty-Two**_

That morning Inxat heard a few whispers from various members about 'Castle Oblivion.' She was told by Saix that she was paired up with Roxas and Axel, again. She was a little happy about that.

She followed the two out of the corridor, and in front of the train station. "Okay," Axel began, rotating his right arm once. "Let's get this done fast. What was today's target, again? A Guardian?"

"Huh?" Roxas asked, apparently he spaced out for a minute. "Oh, yeah, I think so."

"You are such a zombie," Axel said, turning to face the two rookies. "Want me to go have all the fun while you figure it out? C'mon."

"Said the guy who couldn't remember what the target was," Inxat said, summoning her Keyblade.

She took off running ahead of her friends, which still felt a little weird, calling them her friends. The Emblem Heartless would pop up every so often as they traveled through Twilight Town. Through the underground passages, down the alleyways until finally, the sandlot.

Waiting in the sandlot was a large, diamond-shape Heartless. "Here's our target," Axel said, his chakrams held tight in his hands. "Here we go! You two keep your heads out of the clouds."

"Right," Roxas said, sinking into a fighting stance.

"My head is not it the clouds!" Inxat argued.

The Guardian could hover, which wasn't that out of the ordinary for a Heartless. A simple jump would take care of that easily enough. It wasn't long until Roxas dealt the Heartless the finishing blow. "Mission accomplished," Axel said, allowing his chakrams to disappear. "I gotta say, man, you two have come along way in just a handful of days."

"Fourteen," Inxat said, willing her Keyblade to disappear. "Fourteen days since we started going on missions."

"Right, handful of days. Pretty much what I just said. You ready to head back?"

"Yeah," Roxas nodded.

A little later Inxat dug her teeth into the bar of blue ice cream. It was cold, and irritated her teeth when she bit into it, but it was welcomed into her mouth. "I'm gonna miss this ice cream thing we do," Axel said, almost randomly to the younger two.

"Huh? Why?" asked Roxas.

"Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna be away," Axel explained.

"To where, though?" Inxat asked.

"Since you're my buddies, I guess I can fill ya in. I'm gonna be at Castle Oblivion for a while."

"What's that?" asked Inxat. "I keep hearing the other's talk about it this morning."

"The Organization's got a second castle situated in the world between worlds. It's called Castle Oblivion. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah," Roxas said. His voice sounded strange to Inxat. "I wish people told me these things."

Quietly, Axel stood up. "Well, I gotta head back and get ready," he said. "Fun fun fun… Anyway, you two take your time."

_As Axel walked away, my stomach felt weird. Like something I had eaten that day wasn't agreeing with my digestive system. And suddenly I didn't want to finish my ice cream. While I don't think I could see either one of them as my friends just yet at that point, I did enjoy their company._

* * *

**Authors Note:** I might be putting this story on a brief hiatus. Mostly for a short Halloween-based story I've been wanting to write for _years_. I'm putting it in a separate story because when I finally get to a good spot in the story, I'm pretty sure October will have passed by.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven  
****XIV**

_**Day Twenty-Three**_

Lexaeus, Vexen, Zexion, Axel, Marluxia, and Larxene, all of them were sent off to Castle Oblivion for… whatever they weren't telling her. When Inxat went into the Grey Area that morning she only saw Saix and Demyx. Again, her stomach felt like there was a brick inside her stomach, making her sick. "Can't remember the last time this place had been so empty," Demyx murmured to himself as he strummed his sitar.

'_Does he actually do anything?' _Inxat asked herself. Now that she really thought about it, it seemed like Demyx was always in the same place during work hours. But, she let it slide, it wasn't exactly her position to say or do anything.

She was alone in Twilight Town, for the first time that day. It was a simple 'fill-you-quota' mission in the Southern area of Twilight Town. With her quota filled for the day, Inxat went to check up on Haru. She fed her a hot dog, a concept that sort of confused her. It wasn't a real dog, but a thin piece of meat.

With Haru out of the way, Inxat decided to buy herself an ice cream, then went up to the clock tower. There, she found Roxas. He already had his ice cream, but he was lost in thought. "Wasn't sure if you were coming," Roxas said as Inxat sat down beside him.

"I wanted to check up on and feed Haru," Inxat explained. She ran her tongue up the bar of ice cream. "Then I figured 'what the heck.'"

"Ah," Roxas breathed out. He bit of a corner of his own bar. "This seems off… just the two of us…"

"Yeah…" Inxat sighed. "Think they'll be gone long?"

"I hope not. You were on your own today, right?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

The blonde was silent for a moment. "Saix had me show Xion the ropes," explained Roxas. "She didn't say a word the whole time. Think we were like that with Axel?"

"Couldn't tell," Inxat admitted.

In all honesty, Inxat hadn't seen Xion since the day they were both brought in. She forgot there was a Number XIV, despite the fact that Inxat was given the Number XV. So they were training her now? Why now, after a couple of weeks?

_**Day Twenty-Four**_

"Will you hold still?!" Inxat snapped. The Yellow Opera in front of her was giving her a bit of trouble. "And get back down here!"

The Heartless closed it's eyes, and it's body began to quiver as though it were laughing. "Are you making fun of me?!" Inxat shouted. "Well, pardon me for not being able to fly!"

She ran up to a nearby trashcan, using it to get some height, Inxat jumped off. She guided her Keyblade into the Heartless. It dissolved, and a heart was released into the air. Inxat landed on her side when she hit the ground with a dull thud. "And that fills out the day's quota," Inxat sighed. She willed her Keyblade to disappear. "I still can't get the landing…"

Following her routine of feeding Haru, Inxat found Roxas, even more troubled than yesterday, on the clock tower. "Something wrong?" she asked, taking her seat beside him.

"Xion…" Roxas began. "We were paired up together for another mission today."

"Uh…. How… terrible?"

"No, I'm not saying it was bad," Roxas said, shaking his head. "It's just… she said my name today."

"Really?" Inxat asked. "I don't think she's said anything so far."

"I know," Roxas agreed. "It took me a little off guard."

_**Day Twenty-Five**_

Inxat let out a heavy sigh as she walked into the sandlot. Her target today was a Large Armor. But so far, all she could see was an empty sandlot. "Where _is_ it?!" she muttered impatiently.

Suddenly, a large Heartless in gold, silver, and red armor dropped down from the sky and landed right in front of Inxat. It was a big, round Heartless with the signature sigil smack down in the center of it's body.

A smirk played on Inxat's lips, she summoned her Sign of Innocence. With her Keyblade tight in her hands, Inxat ran straight up to the Large Armor. The Heartless reared back, and thrust it's gut into Inxat, tossing her back. Inxat rolled across the sandlot until she stopped on her back. She pushed herself back onto her feet, and ran back towards the Heartless.

She slid to a stop a couple of yards away from the Large Armor. Inxat aimed her Keyblade, then shouted, "Fire!"

The Heartless stumbled back. Stealing the opportunity, Inxat ran up to the Heartless, then began to pound away at it. After a while, the Heartless stood back up, swinging it's arms back and forth, tossing Inxat back again in the process.

Sliding to a stop, Inxat picked herself back up, then ran straight back at the Heartless. She skewered her Keyblade through it. It's large body disintegrated, releasing the heart inside. "Well, I'm done with that," Inxat sighed as he Keyblade disappeared.

She made her usual rounds, and, for a change, Inxat was the first to make it to the clock tower. _'Maybe he's not coming…' _Inxat thought. She nibbled off a corner of the bar.

"How'd you find such a great place?" she heard.

Turning her head to the side, she found Roxas and Xion walking up. "Xion, this is Inxat," Roxas began. He sat beside her. "I brought Xion along, if that's all right with you."

"Sure," Inxat smiled. "There's enough room."

As Xion sat down on the other side of Roxas, Inxat studied her slightly. Didn't she ever take her hood off? It seemed a bit difficult for her to make friends with her face covered all the time. "Here ya go," Roxas said, handing Xion a bar of ice cream. "Sea-salt ice cream. Go on, try it."

Xion's head turned to the side, to better look at the other two. Both of them silently encouraged her to try the frozen treat. "Okay," she said finally. She bit off a piece, and seemed a little intrigued by the taste. Or at least, that's what Inxat assumed, given she couldn't see Xion's face. "It's sweet. But kinda salty too."

"It's really good, right?" Roxas asked happily. "Me, Inxat, and Axel always meet up h ere for ice cream after work. Sea-salt is Axel's favorite."

"Sound's like it's yours, too," Xion noted.

"Yeah," Roxas chuckled. "I don't remember it too well, but Axel said he took me here my very first day with the Organization."

"And the first time the three of us had a mission together," Inxat explained. She quickly ran her tongue down her ice cream and smiled. "That was the first time I had this ice cream. Axel said it was the 'icing on the cake.'"

"A little something extra?" Xion asked with a slight smile.

"Exactly," smiled Roxas.

"The three of you must be close."

"Axel and Inxat are my first friends."

"Same here," added Inxat.

"Your… friends?" Xion repeated. "Do you think I could be a friend?"

"When Axel get's back, let's ask him," said Roxas. "Then the four of us can have ice cream together!"

With ice cream in her mouth, Inxat nodded a few times. Xion really didn't seem that bad, so maybe the four of them could be friends. "Okay," Xion smiled. "Hey, Inxat…"

"Hm?"

"I hope we can go on a mission together soon."

"Yeah," Inxat said with a big smile on her face. "Me too!"

_Number XIV, Xion._

_Xion was… a little like me, or at least we were the same when it came to where we stood in the Organization. But there was one huge difference; I was a Nobody._

_At the time, I wanted us to be friends, and I hoped that the next day we would work together. But… I didn't know what the next day would bring. And how slowly, but surely, things were about to change._


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight  
****Termination**

_**Day Twenty-Six**_

Inxat placed the book on top of the steadily growing stack against the wall. Sure it wouldn't topple over, she headed out of her room, and into the Grey Area. She found Roxas, standing at the room's entrance. "Hey," she smiled, half-jogging up to the blonde.

He returned the smile, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "I think something's going on," he said.

In front of them, Xigbar and Demyx were having a conversation. "I'm positive!" Demyx insisted. "I heard it myself!"

"Is something up?" Roxas asked.

"As if," Xigbar said with a slight scoff. "Word has it at least one of the folks at Castle Oblivion got themselves terminated."

"Terminated?" Inxat repeated. "B-But…"

Her stomach felt like there was a block inside. She didn't like it.

As soon as the two rookies heard this they made and attempt to learn something about it from Saix. But they were brushed off, and told to get to work. Today was the first time Inxat would get to see another world. And she couldn't even be interested.

The world was called; Andalasia.

Her head was hung low when Inxat stepped out of the corridor. The first thing she noticed that the air smelled, somehow, _cleaner_. It was different than it was at Twilight Town, _or_ the castle.

She stood just outside a small village that surrounded a tall castle. "So," Xaldin began, standing beside her. "From what we can see, so far, what do you make of this world?"

Her green eyes glanced up at her partner for the day. Number III, Xaldin, the Whirlwind Lancer, and one of the Organization's founding member. In her personal opinion, he was scary. Maybe it was his sideburns and eyebrows. And on top of that, he always looked like he was moody. If Nobodies could have moods, that is.

"The air smells different here," she said. "Like… it's cleaner or something."

"Hm," Xaldin nodded. "Odds are this world is pre-industrial, hence why they wouldn't have vehicles polluting the air."

All Inxat could muster was a nod of response.

Rapid hoof-beats reached their years. The two jumped out of the horses path as a brilliant white stallion galloped by with a handsome young man on his back. He wore the puffiest sleeves Inxat had ever seen. "Prepare yourselves, foul beasts," the man shouted. "For I, Prince Edward of Andalasia, am coming for you!"

"Sire!" a second man, this one older, a little husky, and dressed in lose brown clothing shouted. He looked frantic in his attempt to catch up with the prince. "Sire, please wait!"

The pair disappeared down the dirt path, into the forest. Inxat blinked a couple of times, bewildered. "Why would you just announce your name like that?" she asked.

"That prince is full of himself," Xaldin replied with a hint of disapproval in his tone. "Shouting like that is no different than wearing a sight that reads 'kick me.'"

"He mentioned 'foul beast.' Do you think he means Heartless?"

"There's a chance. They are able to get to the worlds very easily."

"Then we follow Prince Big Mouth?"

"More or less. It would be fairly difficult to catch up with a horse."

They walked down the dirt road. Inxat vaguely noticed the lack of woodland animals. But, she didn't really think much about it. Her thoughts were running elsewhere.

Someone really died in Castle Oblivion? It couldn't have been Axel, could it? No. There was no way Axel would go down that easily. He could use fire, after all, it's not that easy to control. Why couldn't she just go back to the castle and ask Saix about it, surely he would know.

But, of course, Inxat didn't dare leave in the middle of a mission. On the other hand, this mission was just walking around in the woods. Why did the Organization need them both there? "Maybe we were wrong about the Heartless," Inxat threw out. She followed close behind Xaldin, trying not to let her feet drag. "I haven't seen any yet."

"That doesn't mean there aren't any," Xaldin replied. "Someone, or something, must be controlling the Heartless. Possibly the animals well. You must have noticed how quiet it is here."

"Y-Yeah… But if that's the case, then why would someone need the Heartless _and_ animals?"

"I can't say I know why they would need animals. But if I had to guess, whoever's controlling the Heartless might be waiting to use them to attack the castle back there."

Eventually, they came to a fork in the road. Leaving a fifty-fifty chance of choosing the right path. "Now what?" Inxat asked.

"For now, we'll split up," said Xaldin. "We'll each go down a path, then meet back here in thirty minutes. We'll safe time, and cover more grown. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Inxat nodded.

Inxat walked down the right path. After a few minutes, she could have sworn she heard someone singing. Following the sound, she found a cozy cottage, and a girl with blue hair. She sat herself at one of the windows, her head rested in her hands as she listened to the song.

She looked about Inxat's age, with blue hair done in a half up-do. The girl turned around, jumping slightly at the sight of Inxat. "You're… you're with those guy's in the coat, aren't you?" she asked.

"Uh…" Inxat replied.

"You don't have to answer, I guess," the girl said, leaping down. "There's Heartless in there. They seem to like the woman's singing."

"Uh…"

"Is that all you can say?" the girl asked, crossing her arms.

"I guess."

The girl gasped. A Darkside appeared beside the cottage window. It reached it's hand inside. A woman shrieked, animals, and Heartless scurried out of the cottage. The woman with long orange-red hair climbed up the Darkside's arm, and onto the roof of her cottage. The Darkside hurried after her, prompting the woman to climb onto the tree.

Inxat ran after them, despite the girl shouting for her that she got it. She climbed up the tree and onto a thin branch after the Darkside, who in turn, was following the woman. Inxat had her legs wrapped around the branch, and her hands firm around it, still, she found it difficult to keep her balance.

She felt something jump from her leg, to her shoulder, and onto the Darkside. It was a chipmunk, vocally encouraging the woman to hold and, and that he was coming. The chipmunk jumped onto the Darkside's head, and the branch began to tilt downward from the added weight.

Inxat couldn't have been more stumped by this than if someone had given her a complex math problem. The _chipmunk_ was the straw that broke the camels back? Why not the Heartless. Or why not the fact that both Inxat and the woman were on the same branch?

"Wow, I gotta lay off the nuts…" the chipmunk said, looking down at his gut.

As slowly, and carefully as possible, Inxat got onto her feet. On the ground, the blue haired girl looked, in complete and utter awe. Inxat leaped onto the back of the Darkside, and began to climb up. Once on it's shoulder, she summoned her Keyblade, and drove it into the Heartless' neck, prompting a painful shriek.

Stealing the opportunity, the woman threw herself off the branch, and grabbed onto another. Unfortunately, it was just out of reach. Inxat's eyes grew, the blue-haired girl shirked, and Inxat, and the Heartless were launched into the air.

She held onto the Heartless with one arm, and continued to strike it's neck with the other. A terrifying thought crossed her; if she was still holding onto the Heartless by the time they landed, she would be crushed under it's weight, and possibly crushed into oblivion. So, she did the only thing she could think of, beat it harder and faster with her Keyblade.

The Darkside reached up, and grabbed Inxat in it's grip, then threw her in the opposite direction. It's body began to glow dark purple. Inxat landed painfully on the dirt road, over head, the Darkside disappeared.

Inxat's body was aching. She moaned as she sat up, apparently the Heartless threw her back to the cottage. "Lying down on the job, I see," Inxat heard. Turning her head, she found Xaldin walking up to her.

"No," Inxat defended. "I just took out a Darkside." She gestured to the cottage. "The Heartless were in there for some reason."

Wait, where's the blue-haired girl go?

The woman screamed as she fell from the tree. She landed directly in the arm's of Prince Edward, still mounted on his white horse. "Oh, my gosh!" the woman said breathily. Inxat wasn't sure what to make of the look on her face. So she deemed it 'weird.' "It's you!"

"Yes, it's me," Edward chuckled weakly. "And you are?"

"Giselle."

"Giselle!" the prince said, triumphantly. "We shall be married in the morning!"

Inxat stood up, and dusted off the back of her coat. "And so far, what can we make of this world?" Xaldin asked her.

"It's weird."

"Why don't you try again, with a little less snark."

"_You're the fairest maid I've ever met," _Edward suddenly burst out sing.

"_You were made~"_

"_To finish you're duet~" _Giselle finished.

The horse took off into a trot while Edward and Giselle held onto each other's hands.

"_And in years to come we'll reminisce~" _they sang together.

"_How we came to love~" _sang Edward.

"_And grew and grew love~"_ continued Giselle.

As the horse trotted into the sunset, the woodland animals that were previously in the, now destroyed, cottage, began to folic around them, as Edward and Giselle sand together,

"_Since first we knew love through true love's kiss!"_

With that done, Inxat looked up at Xaldin. She had a dull expression on her face that read _'You-cannot-tell-me-that-was-not-out-of-the-ordina ry!' _"All right," Xaldin muttered. "This place is a little unusual."

'_While I could be wrong,' _Inxat thought. _'Most people don't burst into song like that…'_

"Em…" Inxat muttered. "Like I said, the Heartless were in that woman's house. She seemed to be fine with them there, so… maybe she had some control over them?"

"I'm sure stranger things happen in this world," Xaldin said. "I believe we have all the information we can get here today. We'll head back and report to Saix."

"Kay…"

Perched on a tree, the blue haired girl flipped through the book Inxat forgot was even in her pocket.

She followed Xaldin back down the somewhat familiar street. Finally, maybe she could find out what happened in Castle Oblivion. "Mm… Xaldin," she began.

"What?"

"What happens to the Heartless when they're destroyed?"

"You mean where do they go?" Xaldin asked in an attempt to clarify. Inxat nodded. "They don't go anywhere. They're gone for good. Their hearts, on the other hand, remain, and they come together to create Kingdom Hearts."

"What about someone like you and me? What happens when a Nobody dies?"

Xaldin came to a stop. He turned himself around, and stared long and hard at Inxat. "If a Nobody dies, they don't go anywhere," he explained. "People like you and me don't exist. We just are. Didn't Saix give you the manual?"

He did, but Inxat wasn't all that interested in it. "So, whoever got terminated at Castle Oblivion…" Inxat said. She struggled to find her voice. "They're gone. We won't see them again…"

"That's the way things work," Xaldin went on. "All things have to go eventually. We Nobodies are no different in the aspect. The big difference is that we become nothing when we die. But, if we reclaim our hearts through the power of Kingdom Hearts, we won't need to dwell on that. Keep that in mind while you're out on missions."

Her senior continued down the path. Inxat, now burdened by this, follow, slowly, behind. A wave of dizziness hit her hard. Images flashed through her mind. First Roxas, then Axel, Haru, and Xion. She saw a girl with purple hair in a white room. Then a girl with blonde hair, dressed in white. The purple haired girl was on the floor, rolling multi-colored marbles around. And the blonde was drawing in her sketch pad.

Inxat's mouth fell open, but no words came out. Her legs gave out underneath her weight, and she fell back. The world around her went black before she hit the ground.

…

Saix waited outside in the hallway. First Xigbar returned to the castle, carrying Roxas, who had just passed out. Then, shortly after, Xaldin came with Inxat after she collapsed. That could only mean one thing for the pairs original selves.

Xemnas walked out of Inxat's room. He had to see both of them with his own eyes. "Namine must have begun her work," said Saix.

"Will they wake from this?" asked Xemnas.

"I am told they will, provided she strips their others of all their memories."

"Then much hinges on Castle Oblivion."

"We needn't stop collecting hearts," Saix reassured him. "Number XIV has gained the power of the Keyblade, just as we interned. Xion can fill their shoes for the time being."

"Yes," Xemnas sighed, somewhat bitterly. "But the only reason Inxat was made Number XV was to double the income of heart's while Number XIV was still developing. With the three of them, that would triple the income, and make up for lost time."

"We'll work our way around it, Lord Xemnas," Saix reassured.

"And Dovxi?"

"Still no news."

"And the chamber? Have you found it?"

"No, sir. I would say progress is slow… if we actually made any."

Xemnas didn't say anything, but returned to Inxat's room, which Saix took as a sign to leave. "So," Xemnas said, approaching the girl's sleeping figure. "Sleep has taken you yet again…"

Was it a coincidence that both of the Keyblades chosen one's respective Nobodies bared an uncanny resemblance to his 'friends?' What was puzzling was that the friend Inxat resembled, wasn't asleep like the one Roxas looked like. Her Heartless was locked up with his third friend. If she had long, red hair, Inxat would have looked eerily similar.

The only thing Xemnas could conclude was that _she_ must have touched Tian's heart. One way or another.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Whooo… Yeah, I got nutthin' to say.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Chapter Nine  
****The Morning After**

_**Day Forty**_

Helia sucked in as much air as she could as she was startled awake. Another one of those dreams. The one's with the black haired girls. This time the two were little girl's, and their father stabbed one of them in the chest with… well, she didn't know what it was, but it seemed to have killed her. But that couldn't have been right. In other dream's the same girl was a teenager.

Maybe it was just that. A dream she should not have been taking too seriously. Right now, the only thing Helia needed to worry about is who she is.

_**Day Forty-Nine**_

Xion stood in the doorway of Inxat's room. It always seemed weird to her, to check up on Inxat everyday after Roxas. They hadn't really spoken that much, it would have been awkward to stand beside her and talk about how Xion hoped she and Roxas would wake up soon.

Well, hopefully that would change soon enough. She had so much she wanted to tell them about one of the worlds she had been too.

_Despite the blurry image she could still tell it was a girl, with black hair, dressed in blue. She stood in a white lotus-like pod. Slowly, the pod began to close. The girl looked down at something in her hand in confusion._

_Finally, the pod closed, keeping the girl in._

_**Day Fifty**_

"_Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I _just_ find you sleeping?"_

Inxat's forest green eye's fluttered open. As she forced herself to sit up, she couldn't believe how sluggish she felt. How long had she been out? The last thing she could remember was that mission with Xaldin. "Uhn," she muttered, rubbing her right eye with the respective hand. "What happened…"

Her eyes traveled to the doorway, where she spotted a group of seashells, _just_ inside her room. "Where'd the heck-" Inxat said to herself. She got up from her bed, and suddenly sunk to her knees, gripping her stomach. "Hu-uuu-ungry…"

She forced herself into the Grey Area to find Roxas, staring at a notice sheet, taped to the window. "Roxas," she said, walk up to his side. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head slightly. "I was hoping you'd tell me. I'm hazy and sluggish."

"Yeah, me too," Inxat admitted, placing her hand over the corresponding eye. "What were you looking at?"

"Some kind of notice," Roxas explained, his eyes traveling to the floor. "It said that all member's sent to Castle Oblivion were terminated."

Suddenly, the hunger Inxat felt was replaced by the familiar brick. "You don't think-"

"So, you both woke up, kupo?" the high pitched voice said. The two turned around to find a black coat wearing Moogle. He held a couple of small bottles. One had a brown liquid inside, and the other had orange liquid.

It was the Moogle that sold the Organization goods and meals each day. But, Inxat remembered being warned that the Moogle was no better than 'a used car salesman,' and if you come a cross a cheep item, odds were it was nearing, or past the expiration date.

"How 'bout a soft drink for waking up, kupo?" the Moogle offered. "They're close to their expiration dates, so I'll make it cheep, kupo!"

He tossed the bottles to the two rookies, the brown one to Roxas, and the orange one to Inxat. The brunette uncapped the bottle, and put the brim to her lips. The orange liquid filled her mouth. The taste was slightly fruity. "It's hard to believe that all the members that went to Castle Oblivion were toasted, huh, kupo," asked the Moogle, as the two Nobodies paid him. "People go, that's business, kupo."

The brick suddenly returned to Inxat's stomach as she exchanged looks with Roxas. Why did he have to bring it up?

* * *

With her head filled with many question's Inxat sat beside Roxas on the Twilight Town clock tower. "Do you really think…" Roxas began, he couldn't finished him thought.

But, Inxat knew what he was thinking. Because she was thinking the same thing. "I don't know," she sighed. "I mean, three of the founding member's went… and… doesn't that imply they're fairly strong?"

"I hate not knowing," said Roxas.

"Roxas? Inxat?" they heard.

With a big smile on her face, or at least what Inxat could see under her hood, Xion walked up to the two. "Xion," Roxas greeted, a little happy to see her. "Do you know what happened?"

"The both of you were sleeping," Xion explained. "for a long, long time. Saix told us not to get our hopes up. That you might not-"

"How long were we asleep for?" Inxat asked.

"Em…" Xion pondered for a moment. "Twenty… Twenty-four days."

"That long?" Roxas asked in disbelief. No wonder they were sluggish.

"Well, you're both awake now," Xion smiled. "That's what counts."

"I feel like a zombie," Roxas laughed. "I guess there's some things a nap can't cure."

"Tell me about it," Inxat muttered.

Laughing, Xion sat on the other side of Roxas. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out a couple of seashells. "Here," she said, extending her hand. "I brought you this."

Roxas took the seashells and handed one to Inxat. "I've been picking a few up whenever I go on missions," Xion explained. "Hold it up to your ear."

Inxat looked down at her seashell and held it up to her right ear. She closed her eyes. Inxat could practically hear a welcoming sound of waves lapping the shore. She could feel the warm sun kiss her face. She could ear a voice that filled her insides with bubbles.

She could see people. People who seemed very important to her, but Inxat was sure she never met them before. There were two boy's one with very spiky brown hair, and another with silvery hair. She heard a girl calling her name.

She was cute, with short, red hair.

* * *

"Where are we going," Xion asked, following behind Roxas and Inxat.

"To see a friend," Inxat responded, with a couple of corn dogs in hand.

As they approached the trashcans by the sandlot, a small dog darted out of her hiding place. Haru began to jump up and down, Inxat's side. The brunette caught the dog, who ate the corn dog happily. "Xion," Inxat said. "This is Haru."

"She's cute," Xion smiled.

Hesitantly, she reached her hand out, but pulled back, at the last minute. "Don't worry," Roxas said, scratching the small dog's ear. "She's really friendly."

"Are you sure?" Xion asked.

"Yeah," Inxat said, tossing the think stick into the garbage. She approached Xion with Haru still in her arms. "She doesn't bite at all."

Haru let out a high pitched yap, and into Xion's arms. She licked Xion's face, sending her into a fit of giggles. "Where'd you find her?" Xion asked as Haru jumped into Roxas' arms next.

"Before the Organization found me," Inxat explained. "I found Haru, who was homeless, so… she kept me company."

"So, she's a stray?"

"Yeah," Inxat nodded. "And I don't dare take her with me to the castle… So, I figured I would make sure she's well fed until someone takes her in."

"I offered to help her a while back," Roxas added. "In case Inxat couldn't. That worked out well…"

"Oh," Xion sighed. "If I had known at the time…"

"Don't worry about it," Roxas said, placing Haru down. "The timing was really cruddy."

As happy Inxat was then, something was missing. The brick was still in her stomach. And she really, _really_ didn't like it.

* * *

**Authors Note:** Poor Inxat. Still can't quite see Xion's face yet.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten  
****Trudging Forward**

_**Day Fifty-One**_

"Well, good morning, Little Red," Xigbar greeted her the next day, after running into her in the hallway. "Nice of you to join the living."

"Little Red?" Inxat asked, mostly to herself.

At this point Inxat knew full-well about Xigbar's nicknames. Specifically 'kiddo,' and 'tiger' for Roxas. But how did she get stuck with 'Little Red?'

"Ri-ight," the brunette muttered. "Hm… has their been anymore news on everyone in Castle Oblivion?"

"Oh, them? Their toast. Every last one of 'em."

The all-to familiar brick fell back into Inxat's stomach as they walked into the Grey Area. "Inxat," Saix said. "Good to see you're awake. You'll be on your own while on mission's for a while. We need you in Twilight Town. Understand."

"Yeah," Inxat nodded.

That day Inxat probably lived up to her "zombie" status. She preformed her mission, collecting a certain number of hearts, then when straight back to the castle that day. She didn't want to meet up with Roxas and Xion that day.

_**Day Fifty-Two**_

"I hate this," Inxat muttered as she stepped out of the corridor in front of Tendou's. "If he doesn't know what happened, he could just say so himself."

She took a potion out from her pocket, uncapped the bottle, and took a swig from it. It was given to her by Saix for working hard (she couldn't tell for sure if it was a sort of bribe for her to keep it up or not). Inxat tried to find out if there was any news about Castle Oblivion, and the only thing she got was a _'I don't owe you an explanation. Concentrate on your work,'_ from Saix.

The jingle of the bell's when Inxat opened the store's door was a slight welcome. Seated behind the desk was the same ginger boy as before. Xeonno, was it? He glanced up a smiled. "Nice to see you again," he greeted. "Didn't think I'd see you again."

"I've… been sick," Inxat said, scanning the titles.

She glanced back at Xeonno. He looked as though he didn't buy it. He scratched the back of his head. "You've been sick?" he asked.

"Yeah," Inxat nodded. She pulled out a couple of titles. "Sick."

Xeonno sighed. "Look, I can't really explain how I know, but those guy's in the coat are bad news."

Inxat looked back up at him. "Huh?"

"Just… Ugh! Get out of there before something happens." Xeonno said. He buried his face in his hands.

He was weird. Really weird. It really didn't seem like Inxat was threatened at all. Yeah, no one would tell her anything, but she thought everyone in the Organization was relatively okay. Xeonno didn't know what he was talking about.

Quickly, she pulled out a very thick, paperback book, and quickly paid out. Inxat hurried out of the shop, hopeing Mrs. Tendou would be at the register next time.

_**Day Seventy-One**_

Inxat followed close behind Roxas as the two walked into the Grey Area. "Here comes the sourpusses," Xigbar chuckled. "Why the long faces?"

"Nothing," Roxas replied. She could have easily been wrong, but Roxas sounded a bit irritable that morning. "Okay?"

"You gotta admit," Xigbar went on. "The castle's a lot quieter. Half as loud, you might say."

"When was the castle ever loud?" Inxat muttered.

"But I could get used to a smaller, more tightly knit group, how 'bout you?"

"Hey, did you hear," Demyx said, suddenly walking up to the group. "No survivors! Everybody as C.O. got K.O.'d! Heavy stuff."

"Then they're really gone," Roxas muttered, handing his head low.

Inxat was pretty much at the point where she had gotten somewhat used to the brick in her stomach. She was pretty much numb to it. "Gone like the wind," Demyx went on. "Right Xiggy? Whew, I really dodged a bullet there."

"Lucky you," Xigbar agreed. "Now you get to hold double your hours to help pick up the slack."

Demyx let out a surprised yell and stepped back. "Roger that," he said, allowing his shoulders to hunch over. "Remind me to underachieve twice as hard from now on."

Inxat didn't understand how everyone could talk about the loss of their comrades like they just flicked away an annoying bug. She didn't know how long it was since the Organization was first formed, but they had to have been together for a long time. Didn't this thought bother anyone else?

* * *

"Might as well get to work," Inxat sighed. She was in Twilight Town, again. "Right, today I'm supposed to be after a Nightwalker. Why didn't anyone tell me that having a Keyblade would give me this much trouble? Can't complain about it now, I guess."

As though on cue, the Nightwalker appeared in front of her. It was surrounded by a Red Nocturne, a Blue Rhapsody, a Yellow Opera, and a Green Requiem. A slight grin crossed Inxat's face, this wasn't gonna be hard.

Her initial thought was to take out the Nightwalker first, but the smaller Emblem's would constantly bombard her, thus presenting her from getting to the Nightwalker. She bore her teeth slightly, and began to thrash at the smaller Emblems.

When she was sure she had taken care of the Heartless, she turned her attention back to the Nightwalker. I had a little habit of hovering in mid-air, and disappearing when Inxat was in the middle of an attack.

"Fire!" Inxat shouted, pointing her Keyblade at the Heartless.

The fireball collided with the Nightwalker, it toppled slightly, which Inxat took as the opportunity to strike at it. She drove her Keyblade into the Heartless and it was thrown to the ground. It disappeared as the heart was released. "Job well done, if I do say so myself," Inxat said, allowing the Keyblade to disappear.

Something suddenly slammed into the back of her head, and nearly knocked her over. It was a Red Nocturne. How could she have missed that? The Red Nocturne seemed to be taunting her. It's small body shook as though it were laughing. "You get back down here!" Inxat yelled, as the Heartless hovered into the air.

It flew to a nearby building and hovered higher into the air. Inxat clenched her fists and ran up to the wall. She jumped up, braced her feet against the wall, and pushed up. Inxat managed to climb up the wall, eventually jumping off. She summoned her Keyblade in mid-jump, ready to attack.

The Heartless hovered out of reach as Inxat made her decent back down. The brunette landed hard in the sandlot. Her left eye squinted in pain as she pushed herself onto her knees. Inxat could see the shadow of the Heartless hovering above her head. Suddenly an object sailed straight into the Heartless, destroying it. "Still can't get that landing, can you, Inxat," a familiar voice chuckled.

Inxat nearly felt the color drain from her face. There was no way… that… that _couldn't _be…

She looked up to find a red haired man, with a pair of chakram's in his hands, standing a few feet in front of her. "Hey," Axel greeted, allowing his chakram's to disappear. "What's been happening?"

Inxat was stone still on her hands and knees. She was pretty sure she saw a tumble weed roll past them. "What?" Axel asked with a slight shrug. "C'mon, you really _that_ surprised to see me."

Inxat pulled out a grey booklet from her pocket, that read; _'Official Organization XIII Handbook; So You Just Became an Empty Shell?' _She flipped through the pages, scanning the booklet franticly. "Nothing in the Handbook that says anything about our ghosts walking around," Inxat said, sliding the book back into her pocket. "And when I fell I acknowledged pain, so I can't be dreaming!"

"Sound's like you've gotten better at recon," Axel muttered.

He stepped back slightly as Inxat's arms wrapped around him. She knew it was a very human reaction, she read scenes like this so many times, but it seemed like the right thing to do. "I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" Axel said, with a hand on Inxat's shoulder. His voice sounded a little odd to her. She wasn't really sure why. "So don't go falling apart on me."

"Well, what did you expect?" Inxat said pulling away. "Roxas and I haven't heard from you for weeks!"

"Speakin' of Roxas," Axel began. "You wouldn't happen to know where he's at right about now?"

"Em…" Inxat thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure he's on a mission in here, too."

"Perfect, how 'bout we find him and get ourselves some ice cream."

"All right!" Inxat cheered, punching the air with her right hand.

The brick in her stomach that ruined her appetite for ages was suddenly gone, and replaced with bubbles. But, in a good way. She actually _wanted_ ice cream that day. It was a nice sensation. She could have just gone on like that, smiling forever.

Thankfully, it didn't take them that long to find Roxas. He actually wasn't that far from where Inxat was. They spotted the blond, just about ready to step into the corridor of darkness when Inxat shouted, "Roxas!"

The person in question turned around. The look on his face made Inxat wonder if she wore a similar look just minutes ago. "Hey," Axel greeted as Inxat ran up to Roxas. "How's it hanging?"

Inxat's eyes traveled from Roxas' surprised face, to Axel, who walked up to the two, then back to Roxas. She balled her hand up close to her face, and giggled. "Geez, Inxat gave me a warmer welcome, you know," said Axel.

"Axel?" Roxas said finally. "But… I thought you were gone! Castle Oblivion-the whole team was annihilated…"

"Correction: the _weakling's_ were annihilated."

Roxas suddenly had an odd look on his face. Or, at least, odd to Inxat. "You had me worried!" Roxas said, angrily.

"Worried," Axel repeated. "Well, that's a neat trick, considering none of us have heart's to feel with."

These two kids were a little odd, Axel had to admit. By the way they would act, he could almost swear they had hearts. But, in light of recent events in Castle Oblivion, and given who their original selves were, he had to wonder.

"W-Wait here," Roxas said happily. "I'll go buy us ice cream!"

"I'll go with you," said Inxat.

Later on the clock tower, Inxat felt bubbly inside as she sat beside her friends. Axel didn't explain to them about what happened in Castle Oblivion, but, she didn't really want to know anymore. Her little circle of friends were together and having ice cream again,, that's all that mattered to her. The only thing that was missing, was Xion. "I gotta check in with the boss, or he's gonna let me have it," said Axel.

"You haven't RTC'd yet?" Roxas asked.

"Hm? Nah."

"So why find us first, then?" Inxat asked.

"Guess I needed some time to sort out my feelings," Axel shrugged.

"Whatever, Mister I-Don't-Have-A-Heart," Roxas snorted.

"But Roxas," Inxat grinned. "Hypocritical humor is the best kind."

"You know," Roxas went on. "Inxat and I have been inviting Xion up here while you were gone."

"Xion," Axel asked. "Really?"

"Yeah," Inxat said with a nod. "We said the four of us could have ice cream together when you got back."

"We're friends now," Roxas said quietly.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven  
****Four Heads are Better Than None**

_**Day Seventy-Three**_

Xion had not returned to the castle for days. Whenever Inxat asked Saix about her, she was pretty much told to just drop it and get to work. Roxas, apparently was getting the same treatment too. "Where is she?" Roxas asked that morning. Inxat stood beside him, and shrugged.

"Have you asked Axel?" she asked.

"Have you asked Axel what?" the Nobody in question asked. Both rookie's looked up over their shoulders to find Axel standing behind them.

"Have you seen Number XIV?" asked Roxas.

"We haven't seen her in ages," Inxat added.

"Now that you mention it…" Axel murmured. He turned his head to the side. "no."

"It's been days now," Roxas continued. "Ten days, at least."

"If not more," said Inxat.

"Wish I could help," Axel said, scratching the back of his head. "But I took off for Castle Oblivion almost as soon as Xion joined up. There's a lot I missed."

"I feel bad," Roxas said with a slight sigh. "I promised we'd all get together for ice cream."

"You three are friends right?" asked Axel. "Tell ya what. I'll pick Saix's brain, see what I can find out."

"Thanks Axel," Roxas smiled.

* * *

Inxat steeped out of the corridor and into Andalasia. Her mission that day was to observe the woman, Giselle. After Inxat reported that she had a handful of Heartless in her house and remained unharmed, there was some interest in her. Most likely because there was a chance she could control the Heartless, which could prove useful to the Organization.

The brunette decided to find the castle. The poofy-sleeved man seemed to be a prince, his wardrobe certainly made Inxat think that was the case. And he said that he and Giselle would be married, so perhaps she would be there.

The castle was European style, white marble, pointy roof tops, and tall towers. The works. There were plenty of garden's, and gorgeous water fountains. The girl suddenly had the urge to just sit down by one of the fountain's, remove her coat, and open the book she was currently reading. As much as it would have been nice, Inxat decided against it. In her mind, everyone was counting on her to collect hearts to complete Kingdom Hearts. Even thought it still confused her a bit.

Perhaps once the Organization's goal was completed, she could read all she wanted.

Shaking her head of anymore distracting thoughts, Inxat forced herself forward. She scanned the area for any Heartless, or the woman Giselle. Whichever came first.

With a deep inhale through her nose, Inxat absently brought one fist against the opposite hand, and cracked the knuckles. She had been wandering the castle grounds for a while now, and she couldn't find a way inside the castle. The entrances had beefed up guards. Even if Inxat could take the on, odds were she would be exhausted by the time she found herself a Heartless.

"Maybe I can climb the wall," she muttered to herself, now cracking the knuckles on her opposite hand. "But what if the window's bared?"

She suddenly heard something scrapping against stone. The brunette turned herself around to find a Stealth Soldier trying to climb the wall itself, with no luck. Inxat smirked slightly, as Sign of Innocence appeared in her hand.

The Stealth Soldier lost it's grip on the wall and landed on it's backside. The brunette ran up to the Heartless, and swung her Keyblade at it like a golf putt. The Heartless flew into the air, landing back on the ground a few yards away. It's body disengaged, and a heart floated into the air.

Smirking once more, Inxat spun the Keyblade over the back of her hand, then draped it over her shoulders. Her little celebration was interrupted, as something rammed into her left leg, causing Inxat to fall over on her backside. Sitting herself up, Inxat rubbed the middle of her back, her left eye squeezed shut. In front of her, basking in Inxat's discomfort, was another Stealth Soldier.

Letting out a 'tsk,' Inxat pushed herself and ran after the Heartless. The Stealth Soldier at the edge of a well, with water flowing into it. "Giving up?" Inxat asked, walking up to the Heartless.

She gripped her Keyblade in her hand, ready to strike. Just when she was about arm's length in front of the Heartless, Inxat felt pressure slam into her back. She jerked forward, her foot caught on to the Heartless in front of her, which was now laying on it's back.

Inxat fell head-first into the well, and straight down, screaming.

She wasn't quite sure how long she was falling for, but eventually, Inxat had to cover her eyes with her arms, due to a bright light that surrounded her. When she opened her eyes again, she was thrown out of a manhole, and to the side, face-first, in the middle of the street.

"Ow," Inxat muttered, rubbing right shoulder. "Now where am I?"

She was in the middle of a street in a big city. It looked as though it were early morning, but the city was still as busy as ever. Quickly, Inxat stood herself up and rushed off the street, into she sidewalk.

Inxat wasn't quite sure how long she was walking for. Eventually, she came across a park, and seated herself on a bench. "The heck that Heartless send me," Inxat muttered. "How am I supposed to find that woman now?"

She let out a sigh, and proceeded to lean forward. She began to debate wither or not to return to the castle now. She had not found out anything about this woman, and why the Heartless wouldn't harm her. It probably wouldn't blow over well with Saix. _'What to do,' _the brunette thought.

Inxat suddenly heard rusty metal, prompting her to look up. In front of her, was a group of five Soldier's. "Well, if nothing else," Inxat said to herself.

Standing up, Inxat willed her Keyblade into her hand, and proceeded to point it straight at the Heartless. "You're mine," she declared.

In unison, the five Heartless turned their head's to the left. The five suddenly took off, confusing Inxat. She yelled at them to stop, and ran after them. The Heartless lead Inxat to a pretty decent looking apartment building, of which the Heartless scaled the walls off, and jumped into an open door of a balcony.

"Dang it," Inxat muttered, biting her lower lip.

Counting the floors, Inxat figured she find the right apartment when she got to the floor first. She was pretty much going to wing it.

After a ride in the elevator, Inxat half-jogged down a hallway, trying to figure out what room the Heartless ended up in. Approaching one door, Inxat could hear something. It wasn't any thing bad, in fact, someone was… singing?

Pointing her Keyblade at the door, a white beam of light shot out of the tip, hitting the doorknob. A click was heard, and Inxat opened the door. Inside she found rats and pigeon's picking up discarded laundry, cleaning dishes, even the Heartless were pitching in by picking up garbage. Standing on the balcony was the woman from Andalasia, Giselle, singing. She was dressed in a poofy, slightly dirtied, wedding gown, and her hair done up, in fancy up-do, that was slightly disarrayed.

Walking into the apartment, Inxat pulled her hood over her head, and closed the door behind her. As Giselle returned inside, Inxat creped into the hall by the laundry room, where the rats were loading laundry. _'This is normal…?' _Inxat could help but think, her jaw dropping slightly.

In the kitchen, a plate shattered. Second's later the door Inxat stood beside, creaked open. Quickly, Inxat entered the laundry room, and hid in the only place she could really think of. The dryer.

It was a squeeze, but Inxat was able to ball herself into the dryer, where she waited. She could hear shouting every so often, and then someone rushing out the door. Then, silence. A few more minutes passed, when Inxat decided to get out, partially because her leg was cramping.

She kicked the door open a couple of time, and struggled to climb out. Finally managing to climb out, Inxat flattened her coat out, only to receive a static shock in the process. It was silent, the apartment was empty. The woman was gone, the people who lived here were gone, the pigeons, the rats, even the Heartless were gone. "That's it," Inxat muttered. "I'm going back."

Extending her hand, a corridor of darkness appeared, becoming Inxat to step forward.

* * *

That day it was just Roxas and Inxat on the tower for ice cream. Here was a book in Inxat's lap, it was a really _weird_ story. Not bad, just whimsical, weird, and maybe a little dark. "Saix's probably proving hard to pick," said Inxat, upon nibbling a bit of ice cream.

"Huh?" Roxas turned to look at her.

"You've been looking to the left every few moments," Inxat said. "Like you're waiting for Axel or Xion to just appear."

"Sorry," Roxas sighed, his shoulder's hunched slightly.

"Hey, I want Xion to be here, just as much as you do," the brunette said.

"I know. I just… I hope she's okay."

_**Day Seventy-Four**_

Yawning, Inxat sat up in her bed, snapping the book in her hand closed. She had a difficult time sleeping last night, so instead she spent the night reading. It was a long book, by the time morning hit, Inxat was nearly done. _Then_ she managed to doze off.

Forcing herself down the hall, she spotted Axel and Roxas, standing by the entrance. "Lemme guess," Axel began, looking down at Inxat. "You couldn't sleep either."

The brunette did not say anything, but shook her head no instead. "I asked Saix about Xion," the spiky red head continued.

"And?" Roxas asked, hopefully.

Axel shook his head slightly. "Your friend was sent out on a mission but never RTC'd."

"Something had to have happened, then," Inxat said, her hands balling up slightly. "The mission would have been done by now."

"I dunno. But we'll find out what happened soon enough."

"Why's that?" Roxas asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"The three of us get to track Xion down," Axel explained, giving the two a grin. "That's our mission today."

"You mean it?!"

"No, I made it all up, go back to bed," Axel said. The sarcasm in his tone was very difficult to miss.

Inxat's eyes rolled to the right slightly. Apparently there was always time for a little sarcasm. But, either way, Inxat could not help but smirk.

Within minute's, Inxat followed her friends out of the corridor, and into the familiar street's of Twilight Town. "Where do you suppose Xion is?" Roxas asked, almost immediately.

"Well, the mission in question was to take out a giant Heartless," Axel explained.

The brunette girl held back a groan, and allowed her head to fall to the side. "Yeah, that's not vague at all," she muttered.

"Look, let's just start by digging up info around town," Axel began. "If we can find that Heartless, there's a good chance we'll find Xion, too."

"Right," Roxas said, with a slight nod.

"Okay," Inxat sighed.

She hoped Xion was all right. Inxat had really hoped the two could go on a mission together, and get to know one another. And then this happens.

Traveling down a flight of stairs, the three came across two local kids. Inxat recognized them from the fourteenth day. "You sure you heard that right?" the bond boy, Hayner asked his friend, Olette.

"Yes, I'm sure," Olette said, sounding irritated. "I told you!"

"And you heard it were again?"

"The tunnel," Olette explained. "I was just there, and I heard a weird, low moan."

"Did ya see what was making it?" asked Hayner.

"Are you kidding?" Olette asked in disbelief. "I was scared! I got out of there as fast as I could."

"A low moan?" Roxas repeated.

"It could be our Heartless," Axel threw out.

"Or it could be Xion," Roxas added. "Injured, unable to make it back to the castle."

"Or it could be the wind," said Inxat. The two males gave her a quick glance. "Ever blow over the rim of an empty bottle? It makes a low whistle. The wind could be causing the low moaning, by blowing over one of the entrances."

While heading to the tunnels they came across a few Heartless, that were easy enough to take care of. But when they finally made it to their destination, there was no trace of either Xion, or a large Heartless. "Great," Inxat muttered, biting her knuckle slightly.

"What are you guy's doing down here?" a voice came from behind them. Turning around, they found a husky brown haired boy. If Inxat remembered right, this kid was called Pence. "You lose something?"

"You could say that, yeah," Axel replied. "We heard rumors of a strange moaning sound?"

A little confused by this, Pence thought for a moment. "Oh! Are you talking about the vent up there?" he asked, gesturing to the vent by the ceiling. "The wind coming through there creates a lot of echoes. It kind of sounds like a moan."

"Well, I was on the right track," Inxat muttered, more to herself than anything else.

"Uhg, for crying out loud…" she heard Axel mumble under his breath.

"So…" Pence said, seemingly trying to change the subject. "You guys said you lost something?"

"Some_one_," Roxas corrected.

"Our friend has been missing for a few days," Inxat explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Pence said rather quickly. A thought suddenly crossed him. "Does this person have dark blond hair? Brown eyes?"

"No," Roxas shook his head.

"I see," the brown haired boy said, with a slight sigh. "Well, I hope you find them soon."

"Thanks."

"So what's your story?" Axel asked. "Why are you down here?"

To Inxat, it seemed like a waist of time to ask Pence this. How would this help them find Xion? But, then again, Pence asked them a few questions, so why not do the same?

"Me? That's a secret," Pence said, chuckling slightly. "Hey, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Pence. If you ever need anything, I'm always happy to help."

"I'll keep that in mind," said Inxat.

"I'll cat you later, then," said Pence, half-jogging down one of the pathways and out of sight.

"Well, that was a dead end," Axel said, with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"Yeah, all we learned was that guy's name," said Roxas.

"So we're back to square one," Inxat sighed, her shoulders hunched slightly.

They went back to traveling Twilight Town when they came across Hayner and Olette again, gossiping. This lead them to looking for what they called the 'usual spot.' Inxat failed to understand how this would help them, but held her tongue, and continued.

Eventually, they found themselves in a makeshift hut. It looked like a secret hide out, and probably counted as a 'usual spot.' They looked around, but their really was not all that much there. It was mostly a place for sitting around and talking. Essentially it wasn't any different from their spot on the clock tower. "Hey," Roxas said suddenly. "I think I found something."

Peering over the blonds shoulder, Inxat saw a bit of paper with several red markings on it. "It's some kind of map," said Axel. Inxat could not figure out if it was to himself or not.

"There're markings on it," Inxat pointed out. "Landmarks?"

"'Spooky Steps,'" Axel read out loud, confused. "'Friend from Beyond the Wall?' There's one about the moaning tunnel…"

"_Bizarre _landmarks then," Inxat corrected.

"Doubt it," the spiky red head said. "There's more. 'The Doppelganger,' 'The Animated Bag…'"

"A ghost train and a haunted mansion," Roxas finished. "Seven altogether."

'_Well, someone's got a lot of time on their hands,' _Inxat thought to herself. _'Hate to see what this person's thoughts are.'_

"I think we know just the guy to ask," Roxas said with a slight grin. "If nothing else, he seems to know a lot about the town."

'_Seriously,' _Inxat thought. _'What does this have to do with us finding Xion.'_

They found Pence still walking around the tunnels. "Back so soon," he greeted, spotting the three. "Something I can help you with?"

"Yeah, actually," said Axel. "We had a question."

"Okay, shoot. Let's see if it's anything I know."

"Is anything… weird happening here? You know, in the town. I mean, there's are lots of little quirks and mysteries, right? Like, say… the Spooky Stairs…"

"Oh," Pence said thoughtfully. "So you guys are like me, investigating the town's Seven Wonders?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that."

"Well…" Pence thought for a moment. "I wasn't planning to talk to anyone about it until I'd finished up my investigation, but… All right! I'll tell you what I've got so far. So, I've been digging around, and I've learned that the town's Wonders are all linked! In… the sense that they're all made-up. Nothing but urban legends and rumors."

"What?" Roxas found himself asking, confused.

"Like those stairs you mentioned," Pence explained. "Total sham. The truth about that one is just embarrassing."

"How s-" Inxat started.

"Just another sleepy town, huh?" Axel interrupted.

"Sorry guys," Pence said, with a weak grin on his face. "You're wasting your time. Well, accept for maybe, the Eighth Wonder…"

"There's an eighth?" Inxat asked.

"The one about the tree. Out in the woods? There's one tree where, if you shake it, the whole place starts to rustle. Weird, huh? I still haven't seen it firsthand, so I can't tell you much. But people have said they feel like they're being watched there - even thought it's deserted."

The metaphoric light bulb went off in Inxat's mind. What Pence was describing _had_ to be the Heartless they were looking for. "Pretty strange," Roxas muttered, to himself.

"Wouldn't be much of a Wonder if it wasn't!" Pence laughed. "I'm planning to go figure out the trick behind it later."

"Good luck with that," said Axel.

"Thanks! Well, I should get back to my investigation. Try to keep this to yourselves, yeah?"

Once again, they watched Pence half-jog off. "Well, that was uninformative," Roxas said, as soon as he was out of ear-shot.

"Maybe, maybe not," Axel grinned.

"You remember what he said about people feeling like they were being watched," Inxat said. "That might be the Heartless Xion was after."

With that, they headed for the woods in front of the old mansion. It was a little reminiscence to Inxat, she could just vaguely remember wandering through the woods to find a spot to read. "So…" Inxat allowed her voice to trail off, as they entered the woods. "Do we just bash away?"

"He didn't really say which tree to hit," Roxas said, summoning his Keyblade. "I suppose that's the best way to go around this."

Gripping this weapon in his hands, he struck the nearest tree, causing it to shake slightly. The top of the tree shook slightly. "Look's like we've got a live one!" Axel said.

Whatever was in the trees, hopped from treetop to treetop, and landed in front of the old mansion. The image of a large dark green and grey lizard, a Veil Lizard, flickered on and off. "You think that's the one?" Roxas asked, his Keyblade still in his hands.

"No wonder Xion had trouble," said Axel. "It was blending into the scenery."

"So, Xion's still trying to find it then?" asked Inxat.

"Probably."

"So, what do you suggest?" asked Roxas

"A target's, a target," the spiky redhead said, his chakrams appearing in his hands. "Doesn't matter who takes it out. I say we do it now, before it vanishes again."

As Inxat quickly found, the only issue she had with this Heartless, was it's blending ability, and the fact that it would attack with it's long tongue, and large tail. It was little wonder that Xion had trouble with it.

The brunette felt the Lizard's tail bash her in the side of the head. She flew back slightly, and slid to a stop. In the corner of her eye she could see a hooded figure run up to the Veil Lizard. It had to be Xion.

The figure stoped after Roxas called her name, but she was knocked back by the Lizard tongue. Xion was thrown back. Within a few moments the Veil Lizard disappeared and a heart was release.

"Xion!" Roxas shouted, rushing up to Xion. "Are you okay?"

The girl in question rubbed the back of her neck. "R-Roxas?" she questioned.

"Hey," Inxat called, half-jogging up to them. "What happened?"

"I'm fine… Thanks," Xion forced out, as Roxas helped her up. "It's just…"

"You can tell us about it," Axel said, interrupting Xion. "But first, let's find a place to sit down."

The group of four walked off, the blond and brunette chatting nonstop, each one of them oblivious to the pair of yellow eyes watching them. They belonged to a woman in her twenties, with short bubblegum pink hair. She stood by the window of the mansion that had long been abandoned.

She had a slight smile on her face as she watched the four head back to the streets of Twilight Town. "See," she muttered to herself. "I told you your friends would come to help you."

* * *

It took about fifteen to twenty minutes in total to exit the woods, buy four ice cream bars, and get to the clock tower. Taking a few bites from her ice cream, Inxat pumped her legs slightly. Her stomach was really bubbly, but in a good way. "Eat up, Xion," she heard Roxas advise. "It's gonna melt."

"I know," the person in question said. But still, her ice cream remained untouched.

"What's wrong?" Axel asked. "Not hungry?"

Xion remained silent, and soon the bubbles in Inxat's stomach were gone. "Did something happen?" she asked.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Roxas added.

The hooded girl remained tight lipped. Inxat was not sure if she was dead set on not saying anything, or if she was not sure of how to put it. "We're here for you if you want to get it off your chest," Axel reassured. "Right?"

Xion looked up to see the nods of agreement from Roxas and Inxat. "I can't…" she forced out. "I can't use the Keyblade anymore."

That took Inxat by surprise. It explained quite a bit. Yes, on her own it would have taken Xion a while to take out the Heartless, but it wasn't impossible. Without a weapon, any weapon, what was she supposed to do? "And without it," Xion continued, sounding pretty discouraged now. "I can't do my job."

"What happened?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know. But if I don't defeat Heartless with a Keyblade… the hearts released will just find their way into another Heartless instead. I swat them into one place and they just pop up in another. I'm supposed to be collecting hearts. Those are my orders. Without a Keyblade… I'm useless."

Now there was a brick in Inxat's stomach. What could they do to someone if they proved useless to the Organization? Kill them? "Isn't there anything you can do, Axel?" Roxas asked. It made Inxat wonder if he was thinking along the same line as she was.

"Wish there was," Axel admitted. "But… it's just like Xion said. No Keyblade, no can do."

"They're gonna turn me into a Dusk once they find out they don't need me," Xion said, her voice heavy.

"Isn't there _something_ we can do?" Inxat asked.

"Hey, I'm racking my brain here," Axel said bitterly. "And there's just no way to-" His eyes widened suddenly. "Wait."

"What?" Roxas questioned. "Tell us."

"Roxas, Inxat, what if you two were to work double duty," Axel said finally.

"Double duty?" Inxat repeated.

"What do you mean, Axel?" Xion asked.

"Xion, stick with either Roxas or Inxat until you can control the Keyblade again," the redhead explained. "Make sure your missions alternate between the two. Then, they can collect the hearts and nobody will ever have to know that you're not doing the same."

"Axel, that's brilliant!" Roxas said, almost laughing.

Axel chuckled at this. "But," he said. "That also mean's you and Inxat have to collect twice as many hearts."

"I can do it. Inxat?"

"Yeah," the brunette said, pumping her free fist into the air. "No problem."

"You don't mind?" Xion asked.

"Of course not!" the two said in unison.

"But-"

"Hey, friends gotta be able to lean on each other now and then," said Axel. "Ain't that right."

Xion remained silent for a few moments. "Thanks…" she said slowly. "So… Axel, dose that mean you and I can be friends?"

"Well, yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Was there ever any doubt? Any friends of these knuckleheads are a friend of mine."

"Thank you!" Xion said happily.

Giggling to herself, Inxat looked out at the horizon, taking a bite out of her ice cream, which as this point was fairly soft. Swallowing she glanced back a Xion. She finally took her hood down.

She was cute without it up all the time. Blue eyes, almost the same shade as Roxas', and short black hair. Inxat's insides were filled with bubbles now. This was going to be great, she just knew it.

_**Day Seventy-Five**_

Inxat hurried into the Grey Area. It didn't cross her mind until this morning that Saix might not be okay about double duty. They might be in huge trouble in that case, Xion might be found out.

She found Roxas and Xion speaking to Saix. Both of them kept their head held high, and tried not to let anything one. But Saix suspected something, he clearly suspected something. All was not lost, thankfully. Axel came to their rescue, the last push Saix needed to allow the two to pair up.

"Inxat," Saix spoke up. His gold-orange eyes glaring up at her. "I want you to do a bit of investigating today."

"Andalasia?" she asked.

"Not this time," Saix said, looking over his notes. "There's source of power that's been traveling around for a while now. As of late this source seems to be hopping around much more than usual."

"And you want me to see what it is?" Inxat guessed.

"Exactly."

Saix explained that, for now this source has stopped, so she should have been able to investigate. The coordinates he gave her, brought Inxat to a dully lit room, filled with various items and artifacts Inxat had no name for. All of them were being kept safely, on display, behind glass cases.

'_A museum?'_ Inxat thought.

It seemed about right. All of these items were on display, protective by glass. Why else would they be there if there weren't going to people looking at them with greasy, grubby hands.

Well, she had job to do. And the sooner she got it done, the sooner she could see how it went with Roxas and Xion.

Taking a step back, Inxat turned around, then slammed into something hard. She shook her head to rid herself of the daze, then learned pretty quickly that what she ran into wasn't a wall.

Really, it was probably the strangest thing in the room, due to how out of place it was. It was the most normal.

It was a blue phone booth.

* * *

**Authors Note:** *hides behind a pillow fort with a plastic strainer as a helmet* I REGRET DIDDLY SQUAT!


End file.
